Group Development, Leadership, and Decision-Making

Whether you’re a person who thrives in small groups or one who would rather go it alone, knowledge of how small groups work can be a powerful tool for achieving more productive and enjoyable collaboration. The more you know about the lifecycle of your group and about the various roles adopted by the group’s members, the more able you are to effectively do your part, whether supporting other members, checking off tasks, or leading the group toward completing its mission.

Five Development Stages of Groups

American organizational psychologist Bruce Tuckman presented a robust model of group development in 1965 that is still widely used today. Based on his observations of group behavior in a variety of settings, he proposed a four-stage map of group evolution, also known as the forming-storming-norming-performing model. Later he enhanced the model by adding a fifth and final stage, the adjourning phase.

1. The forming stage, when everyone is getting to know each other and trying to make a good impression, is a good time to create a set of shared expectations, guidelines, or a Team Charter. A team forming activity is also a good idea to help build trust and get to know the various strengths and weaknesses of the team members. This is an orientation stage, on both an interpersonal and professional level, where preliminary boundaries and expectations are established.

2. The storming stage is the one most often characterized by group conflict and dysfunction. It is often where the preliminary expectations and boundaries are challenged as individuals learn more about each other’s motivations. This coincides with the “brainstorming” stage of the design process, in which each member contributes ideas that could potentially become the focus of the project. It is also the stage where team mates learn about each others’ strengths and weaknesses, and try to determine what their roles will be in the project.  Learning to harness the constructive potential of conflict and compromise in this stage is important to progressing to the next stage.

3. During the norming stage, if conflicts have been resolved, team mates have proved flexible, and all is going well, each team member knows their role and works on their part of the project. Sometimes, people work independently in this stage, but check in with team mates frequently to make sure work flow is efficient and effective. Group cohesion ensures that everyone is responsible to the task and to each other.  Problems might arise at this stage if teammates do not fully understand their role, the team expectations, or the overall goal; revisiting the forming or storming stage may be required.

4. For first-time teams, the performing stage may take some time to achieve. This stages happens when teams have established a synergy and have developed systems that that make projects go smoothly and efficiently. When teams have worked together well on several projects, less time is needed to form, storm, and learn to norm; performing teams can move quickly and interdependently to tackling the task at hand.

5. The final stage that Tuckman added in 1977 in a paper co-authored with Mary Ann Jensen, describes the process by which a group disbands.^[1]

You can view the transcript for “Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing: Bruce Tuckman’s Team Stages Model Explained” here (opens in new window).

Leadership in Small Groups

Leaders in groups are members who take charge and manage other members’ activities. In some groups, all members have equal influence and no leader is assigned or emerges. However, leaders are often needed in small groups in order to make effective decisions.

In some cases, a designated leader is assigned or selected by the group, for example a party planning committee who elects one member to be the leader for the year. In other cases, when a group member has rank or expertise on the group’s topic, group members might defer to them as an implied leader. A member with public health expertise might become an implied leader in a community group as they discuss the upcoming flu season. In other cases, a group member’s personality, abilities, amount of talking, or assertiveness can lead to them emerging as a leader. One member of a book club might enjoy organizing and planning and become an informal leader over time as they take charge of coordinating the monthly meetings.

As Stephen Lucas notes, “A group may or may not need a specific leader, but it always needs leadership. When all members of the group are skilled communicators, they can take turns at providing leadership even if the group has a designated or implied leader.”^[2]

The following are qualities of effective group leaders, whether there are designated, implied, or emergent.

Flexibility

Based on the group’s needs and focus, effective leaders are able to switch leadership styles as needed. Contingency theories are founded on the idea that there is no single best leadership style; rather, the most effective leadership approach depends on the situation, such as the leader’s qualities, the expectations and background of the group, and what the group is actually formed to do.

Accountability

The most effective group leaders stay focused on the group’s goals and hold both the group members and themselves responsible for meeting their goals.

Intrinsic Power

An effective leader needs group members who trust and follow them. Coercive or manipulative means such as bullying, threats, or harsh criticisms dilute the effectiveness of a leader. Instead, group members will be much more likely to follow and want to follow when a leader’s influence comes from intrinsic appeals, such as constructive feedback, rationality of arguments, and positively supporting all team members.

Vision

Leaders have vision and an ability to communicate that vision effectively so that others internalize it as their own.

Credibility

Even if a leader isn’t necessarily personally liked, they need to be seen by other group members as competent, reliable, knowledgeable, and believable.

Addresses Procedural, Task, and Maintenance Needs

Lucas describes three types of needs that leaders take charge of so that the group can reach its goals:

1. Procedural needs – Procedural needs include scheduling space, time, and frequency of meetings and preparing an agenda, note taking, and follow-up. These tasks might fall on one member or be assigned throughout the group.

2. Task needs – Task needs help group members complete their assigned tasks. Leaders help analyze problems, distribute assignments, gather information, make sure everyone is heard from, keep the group focused, and facilitate the group reaching a consensus or final recommendations.

3. Maintenance needs – Maintenance needs involve leadership in interpersonal relationships. For instance, a leader helps manage conflict or decision-making by reducing tension and encouraging full participation.

The Reflective-Thinking Method for Decision-Making

The reflective-thinking method originated with John Dewey, a leading American social philosopher. This method provides a structured way for small groups to approach decision-making and problem-solving. Dewey maintained that people need a scientific method and a “disciplined mind” to both tap into the strength of a group and to come up with logical solutions.

The term disciplined mind refers to gaining intellectual control. Discipline in this context isn’t seen as restrictive; in fact, Dewey believed that having a disciplined mind offers intellectual freedom. While the reflective-thinking method can be applied to individual decision-making, it can algo be applied to small group communication.^[3] We’ll explore the five steps of the reflective-thinking method below.

Define the Problem

It is sometimes tempting for small groups to want to jump into solutions to a problem without taking time to define the problem in clear, specific, and unbiased ways. A problem-solving group might phrase the problem to be solved as a question, use the word should, and allow opportunities for several possible solutions.

Imagine you’re working with a team of social workers and foster parents to plan fun and safe holiday activities for children in foster care. As mentioned above, it can be easy to just start talking about possible ideas. Instead, using a disciplined mind to first define the problem will provide both structure and logic to the process. Thus, the team might come up with a question like the following to guide its steps: What steps should our planning team take to prepare and execute an appropriate and fun activity for children in foster care? Notice that this statement is specific and unbiased about the problem to be solved and allows for various possible solutions.

Analyze the Problem

This step preemptively prevents a small group from jumping to solutions. Here, the group needs to explore the problem in depth, which involves gathering material and researching what has been done, if anything, in the past. You need solid evidence, data, and even anecdotal evidence to better analyze what’s going on.

The group planning a holiday event for children in foster care might look at what has been done in past years and gather feedback about those events. The group might create and send an online survey to foster parents and ask what types of activities their children are most interested in. The group might consult with a trauma expert about what types of considerations they should take to ensure any activity is safe and inclusive. Finally, the group would likely research its budget, timelines, demographic information of the children, etc.

Establish Criteria for Solutions

As you problem solve as a group, figure out the standards for possible solutions. Write a list of what you want any possible solution to accomplish as well as anything that might limit the solution.

The group planning a holiday event for foster children might establish the following criteria for any possible solutions:

• The event fits into our budget of $3,000.
• The event is appropriate for ages 2–18.
• The event allows children and foster parents to interact with one another.
• The event feels safe and inclusive for all children.
• The event is held in convenient locations at appropriate times for younger children.
• The event is relatively simple.

Generate Possible Solutions

Creating a list of possible solutions might involve brainstorming first individually, then collectively as a small group. At this point, don’t worry about the quality or feasibility of the solutions; instead, this step is about promoting creativity and participation by all members.

The list of possible solutions for the group planning holiday events for children in foster care list might look something like:

• Brunch, Polar Express party
• Winter Wonderland theme
• gift drive
• gingerbread-making activity
• hot chocolate bar
• lots of lights
• live DJ
• mariachi band

Select the Best Solution

Evaluate the merits and feasibility of each proposed solution using the criteria the group established. How do you define best? That definition might be the most feasible, the most effective, the most politically viable, the quickest, etc.

The discussion for the event planning team might have been something like this:

“We kept going back to the simple part, so Polar Express and Winter Wonderland themed events were off the table. We decided the brunch idea best fit the criteria for timing, budget, and location. Then, we remembered the kid-friendly and interactive part, and added an element of a gingerbread-making project for children of all ages. To help children and parents get to know each other in a safe, low-key environment, we decided to have each child or family display their gingerbread houses on tables and let others write positive comments about them.”

Once the group decides on its final solution, they can continue further planning, or present their decision (when applicable).