Workshop Facilitation for Success Handbook: Conduct Session – Implement Improvements – Celebrate Success

Symptoms of conflict include:
Impatience with other team members
Mistrust and lack of understanding
Arguing; defending positions and ideas
Ideas and suggestions are unconnected; not building on others’ ideas and suggestions
Distortion of facts and information to support personal agendas

The wise facilitator speaks rarely and briefly, teaching more through being than doing.”

Characteristics of a successful team include members having:
An understanding of their roles and responsibilities
An understanding of their purpose and goals, as well as a documented plan for how to achieve those goals
Participation in team discussions and decisions, and to share accountability and ownership of execution and results
Respect for each other and a commitment to resolve conflicts
Appropriate communication and listening skills
A use of fact-based decision making with data and statistical analysis
Effective and efficient meetings, with adherence to ground rules and suitable record keeping

Performing – members begin to focus on the process, operate efficiently, achieve goals
Trust, positive energy, motivation, enthusiasm
Ownership and clarity of the goals, approach, activities, tasks
Exhibit open dialogue and communications
Knowledgeable, competent, able to manage decision-making process
Rely on each other; collaborative, interdependent cooperation
Handle conflict; reach consensus

Norming – members start working together, have less conflict, focus on the goals
Goals, deliverables, and approach are understood and supported by members
Understand and accept their roles and responsibilities, as well as others’ roles and responsibilities
Begin to work together as a cohesive team; trust and collaboration exist
Focus is switched from conflict and challenge to achieving goals

Storming – members begin to think individually, have conflict, are distracted from the goals
Loyalties are divided; leadership is challenged
Teams engage in confrontation, disagreements, arguments, complaining
Split into sub-groups due to lack of trust for other members and/or leader
Question the approach, methods, processes being used
Challenge support for the team; may begin to rebel

Forming – members are typically excited, anxious, positive, and polite
Have a strong dependency on the facilitator
Starting to work together and get to know each other
Feeling uncertain about their roles within the team
Not yet sure what is expected of them nor what they may contribute
Beginning to understand goals, deliverables, processes, and procedures

Psychologist Bruce Tuckman used the phrase “forming, storming, norming, and performing” in the article, Development Sequence in Small Groups, in 1965, to describe the process of group development in achieving high performance and delivering results.

RACI is a role-assignment matrix that helps to clarify and define the roles and assignments for large complex projects, cross-functional processes, and cross-departmental initiatives. It is a powerful tool used to depict roles – Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, or Informed – for each activity.

Value Added (VA) is a process step that transforms the product or service in a way that adds value to the customer
Non-Value Added (NVA) is a process step that does not transform the product or service in a way that adds value to the customer
Non-Value Added but Necessary (NVAN) is a process step that does not transform the product or service in a way that adds value to the customer, but is required, typically, due to regulatory compliance