NORMING & PERFORMING
After the first two stages of team development, the third stage is called norming – the time when the team is actively working together. During the norming stage, most teams have achieved an open climate where team members express emotions constructively, willingly and confidently contribute to the team, and demonstrate caring attitudes about the team and organization. In this third stage team members are consciously skilled. The final stage of team development is performing – the time when the team is fully functional as individual members and in collaboration with other team members. During this fourth stage, team members are unconsciously skilled. Consequently, team members comfortably reveal their true selves and self-identify as an integral member of the team.
Making Others Successful: Success Through Feedback
An important aspect of the coaching process is performance feedback. This consists of the coach’s role in sharpening the skills of team members, closing the gaps, and expanding responsibilities. When team members consistently fall short in their performance, these types of conversations, although necessary, are sometimes uncomfortable and unnatural for us as leaders. This is the part of coaching that many of us tend to want to avoid. When we avoid constructive feedback, we also miss out on the opportunity to develop our team members, even if does take us a little outside our comfort zone.