Forming, storming, norming . . . Helen Kinsey-Wightman
It was great watching our students having fun at their ball last week. It has been a long road back to some semblance of normality for this year’s Y13. Watching our Y13 Dean greeting students with genuine warmth saw me appreciating the relationships that are built within our school. I was also really heartened to hear Chris Hipkins’ acknowledgement of school leaders work in supporting students through Covid in his address to the PPTA Conference. Talking about the conference on his Facebook page he says: ‘It was a great opportunity to thank some of our school leaders for the amazing work they’ve done keeping our education system going over the past two and a half years in exceptionally challenging circumstances. It was also an opportunity to talk about our education reform programme and to acknowledge that while schools and teachers have faced so much uncertainty it hasn’t always been the best time to progress big changes. Our government remains committed to ongoing improvement in education, but we also need to accept that right at the moment just getting through each day is a challenge for many and the pace of change needs to adapt to that. Education reform is something we should do with, rather than to, our educators.’ So, we are over halfway through the year – as I tick off 2 terms in my new job I have been reflecting on the work it takes to build a team and at times really missing the trust and ability to be vulnerable that existed in my previous leadership team. Building trust and effective working relationships in a new place takes time and now more than ever time is at a premium. On several occasions lately I have referred to the model of team development whose stages are most familiar to me and I’ve talked about forming, storming and norming. During the Term 2 break, as I reflected on the last 6 months I realised I have never read the theory and couldn’t name the theorist behind the model.
A quick Google later and I have discovered that this model of team development was published in 1965 by psychologist Bruce Tuckman. In their study of the role of nurses in team leadership, Manges, Scott-Cawiezell & Ward i summarise Tuckman’s model and the behaviour required of a leader at each of the stages: ■■
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Forming is about setting the stage and requires coordinating behaviours i.e., Purposefully picking the team; Facilitating the team to identify goals; Ensuring the development of a shared mental model. Storming is about resolving conflict and tension and requires coaching behaviours i.e., Acting as a resource person to the team; Developing mutual trust; Calming the work environment. Norming and performing are about successfully implementing and sustaining projects that require empowering behaviours i.e., Getting feedback from staff; Allowing for the transfer of leadership; Setting aside time for planning and engaging the team. Outperforming and adjourning are about expanding initiative and integrating new members and require supporting behaviours i.e., Allowing for flexibility in team roles; Assisting in the timing and selection of new members; Creating future leadership opportunities.
Whilst 6 months sounds a long time, 22 weeks doesn’t and given that our senior leadership team only meet together once a week for 2 hours, it should be no surprise that we are firmly situated within the storming stage. Since this stage is when ‘individuals start to push against the established boundaries and conflict, or friction can arise between team members as their true characters – and their preferred ways of working – surface and clash with other people’s.’ ii I find this a difficult place to be – being the only female on the team I have also been thinking about the role that gender plays too.
My main concern is how to accelerate the team through the storming stage and into norming and performing as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Tuckman does offer some strategies for this, he suggests that building interpersonal relationships and task activity to support effective group progression. Unfortunately, in education, time is always at a premium and the time needed to build whanaungatanga and manaakitanga within our team will necessarily require an investment of time, which will need to be carved out of other more apparently immediate concerns. As I have thought about this, I know that this is the most pressing dilemma for all my colleagues whose primary role is teaching students. Yet, as with effective teambuilding, relationships also lie at the heart of all of the research-based initiatives that we are aiming to implement in the classroom. Positive Behaviour 4 Learning (PB4L) is relationship based; culturally responsive pedagogy is dependent on effective relationships; restorative practice is only possible where a relationship exists which can be restored and even curriculum initiatives require relationships – implementing Aotearoa NZ histories involves ‘growing productive and reciprocal partnerships for learning between our school and whānau, hapū, and iwi.’ iii If you Google ‘short cuts to relationship building’ you will find business experts offering ‘10 remarkable habits to build rapport with anyone’ iv such as: smile with your eyes, use touch carefully, share something about yourself, mirror the other person, treat everyone with respect, reinforce trust with your body language, suspend your ego, flatter and praise, take your time to listen and get your subject talking and moving. Ultimately though, as Marie-Claire Ross says,
‘You can’t talk your way into trust, you have to behave your way into it . . . Taking the time to listen to others, show interest in them and following up your words with action is important.’ v When it feels like time is shorter than ever, spending it building quality relationships may be the most effective way to ensure we support our whole community to meet our goals. References i
Manges, Kirstin; Scott-Cawiezell, Jill; Ward, Marcia M. (201701-01). ‘Maximizing Team Performance: The Critical Role of the Nurse Leader’. Nursing Forum. 52 (1): 21–29.
ii
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm
iii
https://assets.education.govt.nz/public/Documents/AotearoaNZ-histories/ANZH_LLC_Guide1_2022.pdf
iv
10 remarkable habits to instantly spark a relationship with anyone Peter Economy the business guy www.inc.com
v
https://www.marie-claireross.com/blog/how-to-build-strongerfaster-relationships-in-a-new-role
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