Tuckman's Stages!

I've been a performing and theatre artist since the age of 3. My automatic thought when asked if I've ever been on a team is when I played goalie in 4th grade soccer because I thought I could just stand in the net and daydream stories about horses. (I come from a very artistic family and my parents wanted us to try a sport for a year to broaden our experiences. It didn't work so well.) 

However when I really think about it, I've been on a lot of teams, whether in school projects, casts of shows, or groups of coworkers. In fact, Tuckman's Five Stages of Team Development reminds me of every process I've gone through as a member of a show. The casts and creative teams must go through Tuckman's stages in order for a successful production to occur. Cohesion, respect, and trust are vital.

One team that sticks out in particular is the cast and crew of Into the Woods from my senior year of high school. This was unlike any other team of artists I'd been a part of before, as from the time we cast the production to our last performance it had been 11 months, and we were flying 35 people, costumes, and set pieces to Edinburgh to perform.

The forming part of our team began during our first production meeting in September. We discussed the musical (its themes, characters, and vision), our rehearsal schedule and how it would work, and the beginning logistics of how we were going to Edinburgh. We all knew our role in the team (what characters we would play, what year we were) and how that might translate into leadership and responsibility. The team leader in any production is the director of the show, and ours was clear about the level of maturity and hard work she expected in order to produce the best show and transport it from California to Scotland with ease.

Though the director is the ultimate facilitator and controller of a show's vision, it is overall a collaborative experience amongst designers and actors. Thus, the storming stage occurs when rehearsal are in the midst of progress. Also in this particular team, we had to work together to raise money for other show tickets, fun outings, and dinners in Edinburgh. People were competing in dominance to have their ideas pertaining to the show as well as the fundraising efforts. Some of us seniors felt, as with our age, we had the right to more of the decision-making. However, our director had to facilitate these interactions to make sure that our leadership didn't diminish or de-motivate the younger cast members. I remember a freshman coming up with the idea to throw a Holi party at our school to raise money. It was hugely successful amongst the entire student body.

Our norming stage came during the end of rehearsals in California and our performances in at home in May. We had created a successful piece of art that reflected the overall vision the director introduced in the beginning, as well as all the individual ideas and characters of team. We were all extremely comfortable with each other and confident in our ability to put on a successful production. Our director was less involved in specific notes and was rather stepping in just to make sure things ran smoothly and kept in pace with the vision.

The performing stage came, you guessed it, with our performances! After a successful run in California, we were able to come back after a two month hiatus to reconfigure and re-rehearse the show in preparation for our trip to Scotland in August. At this point, our director was there to answer big questions and look at the overall production. We, as a team, were able to run successfully on our own as we knew our vision and each of our roles within the team. Once we reached Scotland, it was a whirlwind of two weeks in which we had 30 minutes to move our set in, two hours to perform, and 30 minutes to move our set out every time we had a show. It was because of our bonded cohesion as a team that we were able to work so well together, and not only create a good show, but also coexist in a foreign country.

Adjourning was a sweet celebration for our team. We had an additional 4 days in Edinburgh as a group to enjoy the city and each other's company, free from stress of the show. These days were so important to us, as we had spent almost a year as a very close team, and many of us were leaving within weeks for college. Our director saved some of the money we'd raised for tickets to a drag queen show from Thailand and a really nice dinner on the water, and I couldn't have thought of a better way to end the process. Though we had followed many of Zappos 10 core values, the one that sticks out the most to me is our positive team and family spirit. I still consider those cast members to be part of my extended family, as we shared so many experiences together.

I would just advise future teams and casts to listen to each other and respect one another's opinions. Everyone (especially in theatre) can have such a big ego and it's vital that we hear and appreciate the voices of others, because they may just have something brilliant.