Understanding and Accelerating Group Formation

[bbasujon]

Imagine this scenario: You've just been put in charge of an important project, and its success hinges on your ability to coordinate the efforts of a large and talented group.

But, at the start, people are only interacting tentatively, and don't seem focused on the job in hand. Fast forward a little, and certain personalities are beginning to clash.

Will the team ever reach a stage where everyone is working together effectively enough to deliver the project?

Often, managing a new group can seem difficult, chaotic, and doomed to end in disappointment. But it turns out that there's a pattern to the seeming chaos of relationships within a group ? and knowing it can help you as you head into a team project

More than 30 years ago, a Procter and Gamble manager named George O. Charrier noticed how new groups functioned in P&G, one of the world's most successful conglomerates. He wrote a piece of work about group development for the company newsletter in 1972 titled 'Cog's Ladder: A Model of Group Growth'. He identified five stages of group progression, setting them down in an influential academic paper. Known as "Cog's Ladder", Charrier's theory has stood the test of time. It's now used by all sorts of team leaders from sports coaches to corporate managers. So don't embark on leading a group without first learning about Cog's Ladder!

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_91.htm