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Ocn Advanced Group Work Tuckmans Model

Outline briefly the stages of Tuckman’s model of group development and discuss the dynamics of these stages, and their effect on the group.

Tuckman’s model is – Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning.

Stage one of the model starts with Forming, during this stage of the model the group are just getting to know each other, the individual roles of each member has not been identified at this stage which tends to lead to people “testing the water” such as stronger members of the group testing if other people in the group are potential leaders or if they are the strongest leader or alpha male/female in the group. It is usually at this stage that the louder member’s of the group vie for power and start to assert their claim for leadership of the group. One of the dangers at this stage is that members of the group can become stuck in a role that they are not comfortable with, such as the “class joker” who initially jokes to ease their own tensions but becomes stuck in that role and can find it hard to develop away from.

At this stage there is also a high dependence on the leader, with the group looking for guidance or direction. Members of the group vying for leadership can also test the boundaries of the rules at this stage particularly with the leader.

Stage two of the model is – Storming, during this stage of the model the processes of the group in the Forming stage such as leadership and other roles start to become a problem and a barrier to the groups learning. The leadership struggles which during the Forming stage are usually discreet and more a testing of each other start to get more serious and at times aggressive in the Storming stage. It is at this stage that cliques also start to form with people “rallying round” supporters to help them secure their place within the group.

At this stage it is important for the leader to be flexible and to facilitate the group through the conflict. The group at this stage usually know what their...