HELP GET THINGS DONE
Norms are rules that a group uses to define its appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. The catch: those rules may be explicit or implicit. And those unspoken norms will bite you every time if you don't find out what they are. If norms influence the culture, then you need to be aware of how to influence the norms. (Roesler, 2009). "Team norms establish specific guide posts to help a team be most effective. When they are not intentionally created, inneffective norms sneak in"... WATCH VIDEO >> |
COOPERATE & COORDINATE
Whether you’re a first-grade student, aspiring junior-high athlete, university research assistant, or accomplished musician you have experienced—or at minimum witnessed—both, the safety and the wrath of group norms. Norms are so important that a failure to stick to the rules can result in severe punishment, the most feared of which is exclusion from the group. A common rule is that some norms must frequently be displayed; neutrality is seldom an option (Roesler, 2009). "Closed groups & companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big roles & fluid cooperation replaces rigid planning"... WATCH VIDEO >> |
ENVIRONMENT ADAPTATION
Rigidity in group norms can undermine the group’s performance when it interferes with the group’s evolving viewpoints, goals, and challenges. Group norms change because the group/team changes. When a change occurs in the environment that affects the group, it tightens eases or changes its group norms. Team Coaching can help expose and address group norms. (Accel-Team, 2013) "Rules of play & creativity... We need rules to help us break the old rules & norms"... WATCH VIDEO >> |
Applications
Bruce Tuckman's Stages of Group Development model (1965) maintained that these phases are all necessary and inevitable in order for the team to grow, to face up to challenges, to tackle problems, to find solutions, to plan work, and to deliver results.