How can a group of strangers progress through Tuckman's Stages of group behavior in four weeks or less and still like each other? We are all familiar with the original stages: forming, storming, norming, and performing (Engleberg & Wynn, 2003). As Tuckman astutely pointed out, these stages are necessary for a group to form into a productive unit that can maximize the skills, knowledge, and abilities of its members (Engleberg & Wynn, 2003). Unfortunately, many teams try to bypass the storming stage in order to promote civility and avoid conflict (Engleberg & Wynn, 2003). As children, we are taught to play nice with others and to get along; we reward the children who do and ostracize those who do not. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that as adults we do not want to be confrontational or disagree with our peers. Then along comes the University of Phoenix with its learning teams and many of the modern business models with their work teams, and suddenly students are told that not only is disagreement good but that disagreement is essential in order to enhance the decision-making process (Engleberg & Wynn, 2003).
University of Phoenix stadium, site of this yearâ€...
University of Phoenix Stadium
English: Graphic for Seven Management and Planning...Additionally, as University of Phoenix students adjust to the team mentality and ponder the change of philosophies concerning disagreement, team members have only two or three weeks to get through Tuckman's Stages before a team assignment is due and the additional challenges presented by the nearly complete dependence on virtual communication as the primary method of collaboration and feedback.
Personal StrengthsMost people have plenty of good things to say about themselves. So evaluating oneself should not be difficult. As adults, people find criticism easier to give than praise. The trick of team-based learning is to tap the resources that each member possesses and use them in a manner that...