Groups, teams and conflict
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| forming | 组建期 | zǔ jiàn qī |
| storming | 磨合期 | mó hé qī |
| norming | 规范期 | guī fàn qī |
| performing | 执行期 | zhí xíng qī |
| team roles | 团队角色 | tuán duì jué sè |
| autocratic | 专断型 | zhuān duàn xíng |
| democratic | 民主型 | mín zhǔ xíng |
| laissez-faire | 放任型 | fàng rèn xíng |
A group is not yet a team
- A group becomes a team when the members depend on each other for a shared result.
- Until then it is four people doing four things in one room, and the mark reflects that.
- GAC006 assesses the transition, in a role play you cannot rehearse alone.
The stages, including the uncomfortable one
- Forming 组建期: polite, unsure, nobody disagrees yet.
- Storming 磨合期: disagreement about direction. Normal, and a team that never storms is usually avoiding a real decision.
- Norming 规范期: rules settle. Performing 执行期: work flows.
Put the stages a team passes through in order.
Storming is normal. A team that skips it has usually agreed to a plan nobody examined.
Roles, not job titles
- Team roles 团队角色 describe what a person contributes: generating ideas, finishing things, keeping the peace, checking detail.
- A team of only idea-generators produces a brilliant plan and no submission.
- Assign roles to people explicitly. A task owned by everyone is owned by nobody.
A team of four people who all generate ideas and none who finish things will produce what?
Roles describe contributions, and a team needs several kinds. Finishing is a contribution.
A team contract, written in week one, in five lines.
We meet Tuesdays at 16:00 in room 204. Decisions are made by majority; if we tie, Wei decides. Work is due to the group two days before it is due to the teacher. If you cannot make a deadline, say so 24 hours early. If a member misses two deadlines without warning, we tell the teacher.
Written while everyone is friendly, it costs ten minutes. Written after the first problem, it cannot be written at all.
What belongs in a team contract written in week one? Choose all that apply.
Everything a friendly group can agree easily, and a strained one cannot agree at all.
Leadership styles suit moments
- Autocratic 专断型 decides alone — right when time is very short.
- Democratic 民主型 decides together — right when commitment matters more than speed.
- Laissez-faire 放任型 leaves people alone — right only with experts who already agree on the goal.
Match each leadership style to the moment it suits.
No style is best. The mark is for choosing one that fits the situation.
Keep conflict on the task, not on the person. This section does not answer the question is productive. You never do your part properly ends the discussion and the team. Same complaint, different target.
A teammate has missed two deadlines. Write one sentence raising it that stays on the task.
Fact, effect, request. "The survey was due Monday and the analysis cannot start — what can we move so it lands by Thursday?"
Do not treat storming as failure. A team that moves from forming straight to performing has usually agreed to a plan nobody examined, and the disagreement arrives later — in week eleven, when it cannot be fixed.