Stages of Team Development
Many have heard of the stages of team development (Tuckman 1965):
Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
In Academic Research, there is a model for Scientific Research:
4 Phase Model of Transdiciplinary Research (Hall, K. L., Vogel, A. L., Stipelman, B. A., Stokols, D., Morgan, G., &
Gehlert, S. (2012)
Which includes:
Development
Conceptualization
Implementation
Translation
In 2014, Kaner came out with a new way for teams to organize and develop decision making abilities. This includes “The Groan Zone”.
Introduction: It is the beginning of the problem where multiple ideas are proposed, and early conclusions are drawn based on the existing ideas
Divergent: Next to the introduction is divergence, where an exponential increase in opinions heads toward a confused yet pivotal stage of the groan zone.
Emergent: This is the groan zone where tactical shortlisting is done to pace toward the end decision
Convergent: The gradual consolidated thinking and refinements take the complex scenario to a narrowing funnel.
Closure: As a result, the matter is solved when all parties agree on a single point.
No matter how you are structuring your team to make decisions, there are always going to be conflicts. Especially when you are in the “Groan Zone” and the increasing number of ideas are debated among the team.
Teams typically think the process for coming to decisions is more linear:
Each circle represents one idea. Each line of circles-and-arrows represents one person's line of thought as it develops during the discussion.
As diagrammed, everyone appears to be tracking each other's ideas, everyone goes at the same pace.
But this is not how the process really works.
The below diagram shows how democratic decision-making works. This takes Kaner’s process and adds the scientific breakthrough process that occurs after you reach a decision point.
Teams will go through this process:
Forming
Divergent Thinking (increasing number of ideas)
Groan Zone
Breakthrough
Adjourning
Again and again. Teams must loop through the breakthrough process repeatedly to solve the problems that are continually presented across the timeline of a project.
Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, 3rd Edition