Our brains are wonderful.  It is amazing how we synthesize and find connections between multiple sources of information.  I do that with my training and experience in project management, demand planning, engineering, and church leadership.

Today I am thinking of the aspects of leading a group. I’ve participated in and led many groups and teams at church, at school, in corporate offices, in sports, and in performing arts. You probably have also been in many groups and teams. What makes some groups more effective than others?

Stages of Group Development

As amazing as we are as individuals, how we interact in groups can be even more amazing. One of the things I had to know for my PMP certification was stages of group development, called Tuckman’s Ladder by the Project Management Institute (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckman%27s_stages_of_group_development).

Stage	Group Development
Form	The team is created, and group members assigned. People are figuring out why they are on the team and what is expected.
Storm	Chaos occurs as people start to get to know each other and sort out how to work together. There is open conflict as the team determines what needs to be done and who will do it.
Norm	Behavior starts to normalize as team members become accustomed to and start to trust one another. Team members begin to take ownership and accountability for results.
Perform	The team works at optimum level as a comprehensive team instead of a group of individuals. They are monitoring progress and adjusting their process to improve results.
Adjourn	The team’s purpose is complete, results may be celebrated and members move on.

I’ve seen this process in work groups, project management teams, Bible studies, and many other applications.  It’s typically a dynamic process and not always sequential.  A group that is at the Perform stage can revert to Storm if new people are added.  If the group membership is not consistent, it may never leave the Storm phase because it takes time to build trust.

Sizes of Group Development

How a group works together also depends on the size of a group. Conventional wisdom is that the ideal size for a church small group is six to 15 people.  I was taught that employee problem solving groups should be no more than 10-12 people. The larger the group, the more likely that there are individuals who are not engaged. If you want to keep everyone involved in the discussion, group meetings need to be no more than 12 people

The developers of Scrum (an agile project development approach) suggest that development teams should be three to nine members.  At least three members are needed for appropriate interaction.  Having more than nine members requires too much coordination. 

Team size	Requirements	Choir metaphor	Football metaphor
Individual	Individual skills and individual preparation	A soloist just needs to develop their skills and learn the music.	An individual develops their conditioning and skills in running, catching, tackling, etc.
Small group	Individual skills and group preparation. Group flexibility and creativity to adapt.	A small band or worship team might take a piece of music and work together to develop compatible harmonies	A pick-up team in the street makes up plays as they go along.  “Joe go deep, Tony start quick and turn back for a screen pass.” Individual players jostle for position and adapt to get open for a pass.
Larger group	Individual skills and advanced preparation to define group processes.  Larger teams divide into smaller units.	Choirs must predetermine what each members in each part will sing.  Amateur choir members may listen to recordings to learn the music.  Professional singers can sight-read the music, and do not require as much practice together. Choirs may divide into Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass sectionals to learn parts.	A high-school team might have a limited number of plays that they drill over and over until they become rote.  Individual players are expected to be at a specific place on the field as play develops. Professional players must memorize an extensive playbook.  Players are expected to adjust in predetermined ways based on how the opposing team plays.  Teams are divided by function for training and coaching.

What you need to know to be successful as an individual is not enough to be successful in a group.  What is successful in a small group might not work in a large group.   Larger groups at the highest level of performance require more structure, more documentation, and more discipline.

It’s easy to be nimble as an individual or small team. Being nimble as a large team requires upfront cost investment, practice, and structure so people know how to work together in a crisis.  Outstanding results only occur after the team has come together in the Perform stage

Suggestions for Group Development

Developing amazing performance in a large group requires upfront and ongoing investment in both the individuals and the team. Education and training are critical. High-performing teams generally have high-performing members. A choir or a football team improves as individual members continue to develop their skills. 

Training followed by mutual experience sharpens the group’s abilities.  A football team may drill in advance through every scenario they can conceive of, but they are even stronger after they have worked together to overcome unexpected challenges and win. When the roster changes, seasoned veterans can help rookies assimilate quickly.  Make space for this to happen.

Larger teams require clearly documented expectations. A choir not only has sheet music to define the parts, they also clearly define the aspects of performance including what to wear, where to stand, how to enter and exit. A football team has a playbook that defines specific actions for each member in each play. Group members must have a clear understating of the team’s purpose, their individual roles, and how to interact with each other. Tools that foster clear expectations include charters, procedures, checklists, and agendas.

High performing teams communicate effectively between themselves and with people outside the team.  Top-down direction must be clear, such as when a choir director cues a section, or a football coach calls a play.  Tools that foster clear communication include well-run meetings, minutes, concise and focused e-mail, etc.

The role of a leader changes as a group gets larger.  A small musical ensemble is often led by one of the performers who cues others.  A large choir or orchestra has a director or conductor to keep everyone together.  More time is required for coordination and communication in a larger group.  Leadership tends to be more directive in a larger group and more participative in a smaller group.

Larger teams do well to break out into smaller groups to allow participative leadership. Choirs divide into sectionals so that everyone singing the same part learns and performs it the same. Interactive communication and participation that can’t happen in the large group can take place when the group breaks into smaller groups. This creates space for people to get to know each other better and enables the stages of group development mentioned above.  Large teams are most effective when made up of smaller groups that work well together.

Most of us are part of many groups such as work groups, sports teams, choirs, professional organizations, volunteer groups, etc.  Think about the different groups you are in – how big they are, how mature they are, and what makes them work. Are any of them amazingly effective? What you can do to help them be more amazing?

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Additional Resources

For more information on amazing groups, check out these additional resources:

Tannenbaum, S.  & Salas, E. (2021). Teams That Work: The Seven Drivers of Team Effectiveness. Oxford University Press.

Lencioni P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. Jossey-Bass.

Lencioni P. (2004). Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable.  Jossey-Bass.

Sutherland, J.  (2003). SCRUM: Keep Team Size Under 7! scruminc.com

Martin, P. K. & Tate, K. (1999). Climbing to performance. PM Network, 13(6), 14.