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Team Development Process: Its Nature and Influencing Factors

3. Findings

This study finds that although the three teams operate in the same organizational
context and face the same task deadlines, some of their developmental processes differ due

to variations in input factors, mediating factors, and specific events.
Firstly, the task development process timeline for the three teams is similar. For
example, the Orientation and Organization phases occur approximately between time 1-4,
the Open Data Flow phase takes place around time 5-9, and the Problem-solving phase

occurs after time 9. These results reflect the impacts of task deadlines, as emphasized by
the punctuated equilibrium model (Gersick, 1988).
Secondly, the development of relationship behaviors differs among the three teams.
For instance, Team 2, which has a competent and recognized leader during the initial stage,

experiences a more extended Dependency than Team 3. In contrast, because the project
tasks have lower relatedness to most of the team members' organizational roles, team 3 is
delayed in entering the Cohesion phase. These findings respond to the literature's call for
examining the factors that trigger team development at multiple levels and multiple time

points (Hare, 1976; McGrath, 1986; Seers and Woodruff, 1997; Tuckman, 1965).
Thirdly, regarding the impact of significant events, all three teams demonstrate that
important events have either constructive or disruptive implications on their development.
As an example, during the early stages of Team 2, the executor's resignation impacts the

Orientation and Organization phases. However, in the later stages, the team's operations
become more stable, and the leader's departure does not affect the team's functioning
anymore. These findings align with the proposition of the punctuated equilibrium model,
which states that special events from internal and external sources are the primary

forces that drive changes in team development (Gersick, 1988; Zellmer-Bruhn, 2003).
Furthermore, this study supplements aforementioned argument by introducing the
boundary condition that the influence of special events depends on the stability of the
team's current equilibrium.

Finally, prior literature has implied that task and relationship development co-
occur as pairs (Tuckman, 1965). However, this study discovers that task and relationship
development trigger each other. For instance, task development takes the lead and triggers
the development of relationship behaviors.

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