Understanding Group Formation Dynamics to Manage and Resolve Conflict
Tuckman’s Theory
Tuckman’s theory of the five stages of group development offers great insights that facilitate understanding conflicts involving a group. First, in the forming stage, members are polite and excited about knowing one another (Hurt & Trombley, 2007). Regarding the soft drinks company conflict, employees were initially excited about the impending promotions despite a few tensions on whether they would get the opportunity. Next, the storming stage is characterized by conflict and signs of competition (Hurt & Trombley, 2007). In the storming stage, employees at the soft drinks company started expressing dissatisfaction about the promotion criteria. They asserted they would leave the organization if they missed the promotion opportunity. The next three stages, norming, performing, and adjourning, are not apparent in the case study.
The five processes derived from Tuckman’s theory of group development can be applied to the conflict at the soft drinks company. First, the management should take advantage of the forming stage when tensions are not apparent to communicate the underlying problem. During the storming stage when members start to exhibit competitive tendencies, it is the right time to survey their opinions to understand the underlying causes of the conflict. When members begin to resolve the conflict at the norming stage, management should put across the criteria for promotion. During the performing stage, employees should collaborate with management to ensure that the promotion criterion is successful. Finally, during the adjourning stage when members have agreed on a compromise, the management may encourage those who did not get promotions to stay in the organization (Mind Tools, 2024)
Subsequently, according to Mitchell & Gamlem, (2015), team building is not just about getting people to work together. It involves encouraging all team members to understand the personalities of their colleagues so that they can collaborate. Once team members understand the personalities of their counterparts, a dysfunctional team is unlikely to worsen. Following this, the primary obstacle to implementing Tuckman’s theory within the organization is the presence of different personalities. One of the assumptions fundamental to the theory is that individuals react the same across different stages of group development (Crosta & McConnell, 2010). People will not, however, move through the stages in an identical manner due to group variances in communication styles, conflict resolution techniques, and personality.
References
Crosta, L., & McConnell, D. (2010). Challenging the traditional theorization on group development: An international online perspective. In The 7th International Conference on Networked Learning (pp. 3–4).
Hurt, A. C., & Trombley, S. M. (2007). The Punctuated-Tuckman: Towards a New Group Development Model. Online Submission.
Mind Tools. (2024). Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. MindTools. https://www.mindtools.com/abyj5fi/forming-storming-norming-and-performing
Mitchell, B., & Gamlem, C. (2015). The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook. Red Wheel/Weiser.
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Question 
PROMPT: This is a group activity. For more information on groups, please see About Group Work.
First, review your work from the small group discussion in Module Four, including your group’s final SIPOC diagram, and consider the relationships between and among the individuals involved—the suppliers and the customers. Also, be sure to read Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing: Understanding the Stages of Team Formation, which describes Tuckman’s theory of the stages of group development, formation, work, and cessation.
Understanding Group Formation Dynamics to Manage and Resolve Conflict
Next, evaluate your selected final project case study to deconstruct it into each of Tuckman’s stages, which will enable you to make Improvement recommendations for your case study’s organization. Create your own Tuckman’s model using the PowerPoint SmartArt graphics tool and post it to the small group discussion.
Address the following in your initial post:
How does Tuckman’s theory of the five stages of group development help you to understand your selected case study?
How can you apply each piece of the group development process to your case study?
How can an effective team-building process help to prevent issues from occurring with a dysfunctional team?
What do you see as being your greatest challenge in applying Tuckman’s theory of group development to your selected case study as well as to your organization’s specific conflict?
Be sure to reference the Module Four small group discussion in order to review your thinking