When Core Questions are Unresolved
Each stage of the TPM includes key indicators that signal the resolution of that stages's core question. For example, the core question for stage 1, orientation, is: Why am I here? When this question is resolved, team members will understand and embrace the purpose of the team. They will identify with it and share a personal connection, and finally begin to see themselves as members of the team, as opposed to a collection of individuals. If stage one's core question is unresolved, team members will feel uncertain about the team and its purpose. They may also feel disorientation and fear or anxiety regarding continuing with the team.
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| Copyright Alan Drexler & David Sibbet |
Advancing Through the Seven Stages
It is important to remember that the TPM is not necessarily a chronologically ordered team development model. High-performing teams need to go through each of these stages, but the individual characteristics of each team may prompt the team to work through the stages in different sequences. The stages are ordered as they are for the convenience of new teams, from the more fundamental aspects of team development to the more advanced (Sibbet, 2011).
It is also important to remember that TPM elements and stages are interdependent, meaning that the resolution of all seven core questions is always in-play. Resolution of earlier stages allows the team to focus on the core questions of later stages, but question resolution is not once-and-for-all. Teams may return to a previously resolved stage based on new circumstances or may do so intentionally (Drexler, Sibbet, & Forrester, 1988).
Assessing the Resolution of Core Questions
The Grove, David Sibbet's consulting group, offers a formal team assessment tool, the Team Performance Online Survey, for determining your team's resolution of each of the core questions. Sibbet (2011) also offers this intuitive tool.
What to do when Core Questions Are Unresolved
The presence of any of the unresolved key indicators or behaviors is a sign that the team still has work to do in resolving that stage's core question. It may also indicate an unresolved question in the previous stage.
The Creating Stages, 1-4. The interdependence of TPM stages 1-4, the team creation stages, is illustrated by the back-and-forth arrows between stages. For example, is your team exhibiting apathy, skepticism and irreverent competition? These are indicators that stage 3's core question, "What are we doing?", is unresolved. Before returning to the processes and tools to answer stage 3's core question, be sure to check for indicators that stage 2's core question remains unresolved (caution, mistrust and facade).
The Sustaining Stages, 5-7. The interdependence of TPM stages 5-7, the sustaining stages, with the rest of TPM stages is illustrated by the arrows pointing back to the creating stages. For example, if your team has not resolved the core question of stage 5, "Who does what, when and where?", it will be exhibiting conflict, missed deadlines and non-alignment. Lack of resolution in stage five may also indicate residual (or new) unresolved core question from stage 3, "What are we doing here?". Your team should reconfirm that goals are clear and that it is exhibiting the resolved behavior from stage 3 (explicit assumptions, clear, integrated goals, ans a shared vision) before revisiting your implementation plan for stage 5.
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