September is often when it feels like ResLife professionals are in the thick of it. The feeling of newness is starting to wear off, students are starting to test limits with policy and misbehave in a variety of ways, and your staff is moving past their seemingly fake smiles and are starting to lose their patience. Let’s consider this through the lens of Tuckman’s Stages of Team Development: if the Forming stage is about orientation and initial bonding, the Storming stage represents the turbulence that can arise as team members start to express their individualities and perspectives. But there are things that you can do to help your team weather the storm and make it through with a cohesive staff! Understanding and effectively managing this stage is crucial for a team’s progression towards high performance.
Other Posts In This Series:
Forming | Storming | Norming | Performing | Adjourning
During the Storming stage, the initial politeness and formality of the Forming stage often give way to more direct and sometimes contentious interactions. The key characteristics of this stage include:
Emergence of Conflict: The niceties and pseudocollaboration with others is out the window. People are tired of putting on a face and are ready to fully be themselves. In many ways, this is a positive progression: as ResLifers, we aim to create environments where people feel that they can truly be themselves. However, there’s always going to be some tension when people start asserting their ideas and opinions. There’s also a range of what the conflict could be connected to: personality, approaches to tasks, and opinions on team goals or processes are just a few categories that most conflict could be organized into. Let’s not forget that your staff may have you in their crosshairs and that they may be challenging your approach to the team’s direction and leadership. This can be a sticking point specifically for returning staff members who may have grown accustomed to the leadership of a former supervisor.
Divergence in Perspectives: Diverse perspectives and approaches to problem-solving may start to emerge. While staff could see this as an optimist and choose to see it as an opportunity for creativity, it will likely provoke pessimism and create tension. Let’s be honest with ourselves: trying to identify solutions for an on-call situation with intoxicated students at 2:00am is not the time I’m trying to provoke creativity. When staff members don’t see a situation eye-to-eye due to miscommunication or a misunderstanding, it often is seen as an attack or injustice against them. Connected to this is the testing of boundaries. There is a lot of grey within ResLife and staff consistently want to find that line between what’s okay and what’s not. Maybe it’s going through all of the what-if scenarios associated with Behind Closed Doors training but finding boundaries seems to be a common theme throughout the entire academic year.
Increased Emotional Responses
At this point in the year emotions are running high for our staff members. If it’s a team of students, they are facing increased class workloads along with the high expectations of their positions. If it’s Hall Director staff, the newness of the year is starting to grow stale and exhaustion is beginning to creep in (if it hasn’t already done so already). Frustration, anxiety, and even anger may begin surafcing as the team works through its growing pains. All that to be said, this is a normal part of the process. But these emotional responses need to be acknowledged and managed to prevent them from derailing the team’s progress.
Successfully navigating the Storming stage requires patience, strong leadership, and a commitment to open communication. Here are some strategies to help teams move through this phase:
Emphasize Communication and Conflict Resolution
The goal is always to foster an environment where team members feel safe to express their thoughts and concerns without fear or retribution. As the leader of the team, you are the one to set the tone and make this a priority. Address when appropriate: if you see a staff member snap at someone, make sure to discuss that privately with the staff member so that the behavior does not continue. This can often lead to more context behind instances of behavior. If you learn that there is conflict brewing, do not let it fester. The sooner that it is addressed, either directly by you or through follow-up conversations, the better. If you are only reactive when it comes to resolving conflict, you’re going to have much more work to do than if you would have had the intentional conversations from the beginning. It’s also helpful to view conflicts as an opportunity for growth and improvement rather than as something to be avoided. Share this perspective with staff and let them see this as a way to challenge their own perspectives.
Reaffirm Team Goals and Values
Just as you did in the forming stage, it’s important to cover the expectations that you have for the team and what values they hold in each other. Fall Training was an ideal time to start on this as the collective is still generally positive about their time together. Now that we’re in the storming phase, let’s take some time to revisit and rehash what was written. Some of the values and expectations may need updating so that they can be more realistic in working with one another. At this point in the team’s development, it is helpful to emphasize that it is okay not to agree but everyone needs to be able to cooperate with one another. The goals and mission of the team need to be aligned to the bigger picture. And reinforcing the team’s purpose can help unify everyone, galvanizing them to a common purpose. With ResLife the focus is always on the connections we can make and helping others engage. We may have different approaches to that common goal but we’re all pulling in the same direction.
Adapt Your Leadership Style
This one may be a bit of a hot take but stick with me. One of the points of criticism I received during my first year as a Hall Director was that I sent too many emails. Beyond forwarding relevant highlights, I really didn’t think that I was excessively typing away at my desk and inundating my staff’s inboxes. But I wanted to best serve my team and, if they wanted less emails, that was a pretty easy way that I could change my approach. I started sending out digests of emails I received from campus partners for events happening on campus and different things to be aware of. I also utilized our staff meeting time more effectively to discuss these items in more detail and what we should be spending more time and energy on. The changes that your staff will ask of you will vary: some of it may be realistic, some of it may not. Be flexible where you can and be rigid where you need to be. You also can’t cater to everyone: there may be some staff who enjoyed the number of emails that I was sending. But if it’s a reasonable adjustment for you and it will benefit a majority of the staff, it’s at least worth your consideration. By showing your staff that you are willing to change, they will have more buy-in to follow your lead and do the same.
Just like the proactive effort in the Forming stage, spending more time and energy in addressing staff unrest and conflict will benefit you before an issue festers to the point of fragmenting your team. This is a make-it or break-it stage for your team and your approach will affect which path the group follows. It is uncomfortable and challenging but it’s also an opportunity for teams to grow stronger, more cohesive, and more resilient. By embracing these challenges with a constructive mindset and proactive attitude, teams can emerge from the Storming phase with a deeper understanding of each other, paving the way for the smoother collaboration and higher performance that characterize the subsequent stages of development.
