With the arrival of August come preparations for the fall semester and the excitement of staff training. This is what you’ve been waiting for: getting connected with your staff and welcoming students as they make their way back to campus. When you consider the performance of your team, it will be helpful to view their progression through the lens of Tuckman’s Stages of Team Development. In the mid-1960’s, Dr. Bruck Tuckman, an esteemed psychologist, introduced this model that has since become a cornerstone in understanding team dynamics and group development. This model outlines the phases that teams generally go through as they evolve: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. Each stage represents a distinct period of growth and challenge, crucial for team development.
Other Posts In This Series:
Forming | Storming | Norming | Performing | Adjourning
The Forming stage, being the first, is particularly significant as it sets the foundation for the team’s future interactions and success. As you gear up for Fall Training, consider these characteristics of the Forming stage:
Leadership and Direction
While other characteristics of this stage are important, winning over your team by demonstrating your leadership is paramount at setting the rest of Fall Training and the academic year up for success. If you can show your team that you are providing a positive direction and clarity in how you will achieve the collective team’s goals, you are a step closer to serving as an influential leader. Ultimately this comes with the preparation leading up to Fall Training: if your staff see you panicking each morning and just throwing an activity together, they might believe that you are an incompetent or unprepared leader. It’s going to be hard for them to commit to following your leadership. What they say about first impressions is critical during Fall Training. Show your staff that they are in good hands with your leadership from the beginning of their time on your team.
Orientation and Introduction
This really captures the heart and soul of those first few days of Training. The goal is to introduce team members to one another and learn more about each other’s backgrounds, skills, identities, and personalities. There is a lot of excitement and anticipation of what the role is going to entail, mixed with some uncertainty and anxiety about challenges that may happen along the way. While it may not be everyone’s bread and butter, this is when those icebreakers play a pivotal role in creating a strong foundation for your team to stand on. In order to be able to trust one another, people need to be able to know one another first. When you have independent time with just your team, plan an icebreaker or two each day so that team members can build those critical relationships. Not sure where to find your icebreakers? Find some here on the Roompact website!
Building Trust and Relationships
This will be the natural progression of your icebreakers and the connections that are formed throughout your team’s time together. It’s not unlikely that they’ll start to develop inside jokes and begin working to create their own identity as a team. Fan the flame here with teambuilders: in order for your team to effectively collaborate, they need to continue to build this trust and rapport with one another beyond the surface level. You can find some ideas for team builders at this link toward the bottom of the page. Something to keep an eye out for are the staff who have a harder time connecting with others or are struggling with the transition into Fall Training. Work to fold these individuals into the larger group: you can help by connecting them with other staff members who have common interests or experiences or by asking for one of your returning staff to help mentor and connect with the individual throughout training. If someone feels distant during Fall Training, it’s only going to be exacerbated throughout the rest of the year.
Establishing Ground Rules
Your staff is going to need to know what is expected of them within the role. They likely have an idea of what to expect based on the job description the department posted when they applied to the position but it’s likely been months since that process was wrapped up. Take some time to refresh them to the roles and responsibilities they’ll be expected to complete toward the beginning of training so that they know what to expect throughout the academic year. You will likely also have some other expectations and guidelines on what it looks like for staff to be successful within their roles, so make some time to review this information in addition to those other documents. What is also helpful at this time is for your team to define their staff values, specifically in how they plan to act as a cohesive unit, and what they would like to see from you as their supervisor. For more information about this process, check out this link.
Assessing the Tasks
While you’re discussing expectations, the follow-up question likely coming from your staff is about a timeline for when tasks will be due. You or your department may have developed a to-do list of items for staff members to complete throughout Fall Training. If this is something that you don’t have in place, I strongly suggest that it’s a document that you write out: your Type A students will thank you and it gives your Type B folks a way to hold themselves accountable. It’s also helpful to review a timeline of the full semester if your department has made plans that far in advance. You can share what the main themes of each month for fall semester will look like for your team and major deadlines. I typically provided this in a written document but also as a calendar for those on my team who were more visual learners. Sharing online calendar deadlines is also a step for accountability to help those technologically savvy staff members stay on track too!
These characteristics are helpful at understanding what the Forming stage is all about. It’s a time filled with potential and optimism, but it’s not without its challenges. Here are some to be on the lookout for:
Ambiguity and Uncertainty
There may be some nervousness about what staff are signing up for, especially as you get further into training with policy violation confrontation exercises, discuss navigating conflict resolution with roommate pairs, and just generally getting a sense of what the role entails. People may be unsure of how they will fit in this role or if it’s a good fit at all. Clarity is key: the best thing that you can do is work to provide as much information as possible in terms of what expectations will look like and how you intend to support them along the way. It’s also really important to emphasize grace in the Forming stage, especially if you’re working with a first-year staff member. Many students, especially if it’s their first year as a staff member, are nervous about being high performers and balancing their academics simultaneously. Reassert that you are going to give them grace along the way and that this is a partnership. You’re here to help the development of the student, not just be a taskmaster who is checking boxes.
Dependence on Leadership
There is always one staff member (or more!) who is extra needy and bottlenecks the progression of the team. Often these are the people who ask a lot of questions during session presentations or feel the need to share their perspective at every turn. During my time as a staff member, some of the behaviors of these students will fizzle out; I’m not sure if it’s nerves throughout Fall Training or just trying to make a good impression by demonstrating that they’re paying attention, but there have been many times where the questions and constant comments stop. If they don’t, it is important to address this with the individual for the greater good of the group. Pulling that staff member privately aside to learn more about why they are doing this is important. If they need more help, you can always offer to have a sidebar with them after session presentations to avoid having the entire team sit through questions they feel are irrelevant. Make sure that you set your own boundaries as a leader too so that you can safeguard your own energy.
Superficial Interactions
As time goes on, more team members may be less likely to invest in the team dynamic. As a supervisor, I have always found that to be acceptable, to some extent. I have told my staff YOGOWYPI (You Get Out What You Put In) and, if you choose to be more disengaged, know that it may impact the relationships that you have with the team later on in the year. I have found that there are some students who take these roles as jobs and spend more of their social energy with different organizations on campus. This is reasonable: while some people eat, sleep, and breathe ResLife, it doesn’t need to be that way for everyone. The important thing is that your team is conducive and can work together when inevitable crises arise throughout the year.
The Forming stage is a critical period in the life cycle of your team and you need to be prepared in order to make the most of it. What you do in this stage will make your life much easier when it comes to the October slog or the mundane Fall Break room checks. By understanding the dynamics at play during this stage and using effective strategies, your team can navigate this phase with confidence, setting the stage for deeper collaboration and higher performance in the stages to come. Best of luck as you gear up for Fall Training!
