Team development is important for all teams, but especially for multicultural ones. As noted by researchers (Adler 2002; Ely and Thomas 2001), teams that are highly developed are able to use their diversity, whereas those that are undeveloped will experience their diversity as a hindrance.
There are many models to describe the process that groups go through to get to a level of high productivity and inclusion. This chapter will provide an overview of the models, and then use a five-stage model to describe the process as it relates to multicultural teams. Additionally, another that focuses on teams with a timebounded task experience will be introduced. A discussion of processes for team building will follow. A case study provides an opportunity to increase skill in diagnosing task and relationship issues that need to be addressed in a team, and in suggesting an intervention.
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Halverson, C.B. (2008). Team Development. In: Halverson, C.B., Tirmizi, S.A. (eds) Effective Multicultural Teams: Theory and Practice. Advances in Group Decision and Negotiation, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6957-4_4
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