Abstract
In general, when a project faces a problem, additional members are added to the team, incurring initial educational costs. However, a project manager must be aware that this also adds communication costs. It is often the case with a team handling a problematic project that a major change in the staff causes conflict between old and new members, creating a so-called "Storming" state, which is difficult to escape from. A study by Matsuodani et al. indicates that among all the different stages defined ("Forming," "Storming", "Norming" and "Performing"), a team's performance is the worst during the "Storming" stage. To improve team performance, the team needs to move from the "Storming" to the "Norming" stage. Since Japanese organizations emphasize teamwork in carrying out a project and assume highly context-based project operations, a team must move from the "Storming" to the "Norming" stage by overcoming very high barriers. These barriers can be overcome with strong leadership and a role model. This paper analyzes the state of the team responsible for projects actually facing problems and describes team-building practices that allowed the team in the "Storming" to move to the "Norming" stage.
