Working in Groups (Part 4) - Norming

The Third stage in Tuckman's model of how group working develops is called norming. This is the point at which consensus develops and your group should start to feel comfortable and produce the work needed to reach the end goal. You might be lucky and skip straight to this stage from forming, though that is quite unlikely. And in any case, some of the best lessons in communication and skills development arise from the storming stage, and you can really put them into practice here in the norming stage.

Some of the most common features of norming might be easier discussion about ideas, obstacles and goals. You'll find the individual members have begun to understand each other more easily, and there may be the development of friendships or at the very least, an acceptance of one another and individual traits. Because communication is easier, the group will experience increased productivity and the focus will be on the task and the work that needs to be done rather than on the group dynamic.

And this is partly because roles are becoming embedded within the group as individuals find the spaces in which they're most comfortable operating. And this leads to more collaborative working as individual members become more comfortable with a group identity. Essentially, the norming stage is where you will feel the happiest in the group work process. Because of the positive changes in group communication, the norming stage is a good time to reflect on what further tasks are needed to improve the outcomes for the project. You might also consider what are the processes you've used as a group, and could any of them be improved? For example, could communication be improved by check ins between scheduled meetings? You should be able to make changes in the norming stage without causing conflict, though bear in mind that it is possible to slip back through each stage so you shouldn't forget to employ your communication skills.

You can also begin to evaluate what has worked well so far, given that you've come together as a group, at this point, you will feel more free to take a critical but constructive look at the work already produced. Noting down any skills you feel you've learned or developed as an individual and where improvement can be made might be particularly useful at this point because you'll feel more comfortable evaluating your performance within a stable group environment.

The norming stage then is where lots of the task focussed work will be produced. However, it's important not to think of this as the most significant stage. I say this because although the main objective of group work is to complete a task, you shouldn't underestimate the importance of all the stages in the development of your wider skills. You're now ready to move to the next video.