The development of high-functioning self-managed teams is a multi-step process. As with any change endeavor, this development doesn’t happen overnight. The speed with which teams come together is driven by a number of social and political factors that influence the teams’ outcomes.
Back in 1965 Bruce Tuckman is to thank for the phases of team development we know as “forming, storming, norming, and performing”. A fifth stage was added later named “adjourning”.
Great leaders know that they need high-functioning teams in order to achieve their vision. It takes patience and professionalism to be a member of a true high-functioning team. Effective teams can speed up the process of most tasks if properly managed through the use of the aforementioned 5 stages.
All of these stages have to looked at abstractly. This is not quantitative statistics and the results are never the same. It is nearly impossible to create an identical team. Even the same team will react differently when confronted with different tasks.
This being said, the leader’s role should be that of delegation and direction steering. Identify what needs to be done in order to get to the performing stage and schedule regular reviews of where the team is and adjust the leadership approach to accommodate the stage the team is in.