Communication in Teams

Criticism Stage Communication Hints

In the Criticism Stage of team development you will need good communication skills, the ability to listen, give and receive feedback, and negotiate conflict. Signs that your team has entered the Criticism Stage of team development include overly critical, negative, or frustrated team members. Proper management of this stage can result in creativity, skillful conversation, and more efficient and effective performance. Improper management can cause the team to shift back and forth between this stage and the Formation Stage. In some cases, the team can even dissolve or become a work group with a strong leader; this results in less creativity, efficiency, and effectiveness. If your team is experiencing these problems, utilize the tools and models in this module to continue advancing to a higher performance level.

It is normal for team members to express some frustration about the task. Your task can be accomplished with team members criticizing the course, but this is not the most efficient or constructive alternative. Examples of what you and your team members may say are:

• "How will I be able to work with people I don't know and may not even like?" "All this team-building work is nonsense and pointless. Let me into the laboratory so I can do my work"
• "I think we should get extra credit if we are going to do all this team-building work."
• "The faculty advisor didn't plan out this project very well."
• "The faculty advisor is never around when I really need him and I have no idea what he is talking about."
• "This course is not what I expected."

How you manage these comments and bring your team around to focusing on the task is important at this stage. Being frustrated and negative impacts your ability to be effective and efficient. You can grin and bear it, or you can decide to deal with the problems you feel your team is encountering. Grinning and bearing it is not a viable option. Avoidance causes your efficiency and your effectiveness to be diminished and your attitude to become negative. Being preoccupied with frustration and negativity hinders openness. Think about the long and short-term consequences of your frustration. Reexamining the basis for your frustration and learning how to accomplish a project with a good attitude makes the difference between high and low performance levels. Dealing with problems may initially take some time away from the task, but it will improve task performance in the long run. Be prepared to deal with your emotions and the setbacks that the team encounters. The first step in this process is communication.