Is your team exhausted, showing signs of burnout, working really hard but not moving their project forward? Welcome to 2021. The pandemic kicked our collective butt last year and teams went into overdrive to keep business moving. But things aren’t returning to what we once considered normal and the frenetic pace of work is unsustainable and not any fun.

Teams that may have functioned well pre-pandemic have been thrown into a tailspin of change and confusion. New teams are forming remotely without the opportunity to build face-to-face relationships and mature into effective units. Team leaders who are also exhausted and facing burnout need to figure out how to help their people get to a good place in a new working world.

This could be a great time to invest in your team by getting some outside information and targeted suggestions that will act as an impetus for everyone to rethink, retool and re-engage. Finding out how your team perceives where they are, and getting research backed information on where the team is in their development will provide the knowledge you need to move the needle on team effectiveness.

Teams grow and develop just as individuals do. There are predictable stages of development and based on where the team is, work can be tailored to fit the current stage. In order to do this, you need to know where the team is and where the team members perceive the team to be. Having a reliable, tried and tested method to determine this is key.

We believe that the best assessment tool for teams is the Group Development Questionnaire (GDQ), created by Susan Wheelan. The GDQ is based on psychological research and has been validated internationally. The questionnaire has been used for over 25 years to determine the stage a team is in and to identify steps the team can take to become more effective. Ongoing research keeps the GDQ up to date with advances in working group dynamics.

Wheelan’s research led her to conclude that effective teams mature the longer they work together and that they mature along a predictable set of stages. The team can be set back by changes to the makeup of the team or change in leadership. Shifts in work or the priorities for which the team is responsible will also set the team back. The pandemic definitely shifted work priorities and turned the world upside down. Understanding group dynamics specific to the team is helpful to the leadership, who can note the setbacks and suggest ideas for the team to get back on track. It is also helpful for the team members to know that group dynamics such as theirs are normal, which will help them be better prepared for change.

In the next post, we will share some information about the team development stages that the Group Development Questionnaire assesses and why knowing about them will help you help your team.

Let The Propel help you lead your team in the best way possible for the team, the company and you. Reach out and ask us about our GDQ Team Development process.