14.1 Teamwork (AFH-1 Section 14A)
Key Takeaways
- Section 14A is ADTC B for Staff Sergeant and Technical Sergeant on the 15 February 2025 Airman Development and Testing Chart; Section 14E is deleted.
- Healthy teams rest on trust, communication, and cooperation, and AFH 1 places trust at the core of all healthy team interaction.
- AFH 1 names four team-building stages: forming, storming, norming, and performing; it does not name Tuckman and does not add adjourning.
- Storming is probably the most difficult stage; all-starring behavior signals a power struggle that leaders reduce by restating each member's roles and responsibilities.
- Dr. Kenneth Thomas's five conflict styles are competing, collaborating, accommodating, avoiding, and compromising, plotted on assertiveness and cooperativeness.
14.1 Teamwork (AFH-1 Section 14A)
Quick Answer: Healthy teams rest on trust, communication, and cooperation, and trust is at the core of all healthy team interaction. AFH 1 lists four stages: forming, storming, norming, and performing. It does not name Tuckman and does not add adjourning. Conflict uses Dr. Kenneth Thomas's five styles along assertiveness and cooperativeness. Section 14E is DELETED in the 15 February 2025 change.
Section 14A is ADTC B for Staff Sergeant and Technical Sergeant. The 15 February 2025 Air Force Handbook 1 (AFH 1), Airman, is the PFE source. Older decks that still quiz Chapter 14 diversity or inclusion items are testing a deleted section.
Team building
Dynamic means constant change, activity, or progress, and can also mean a force that stimulates change. Airmen must know leaders, peers, and subordinates and how to build effective teams. Team spirit influences every stage of development and can determine whether goals are met.
Healthy, high-performing teams most often rest on trust, communication, and cooperation. Bonds take time. Trust is at the core of all healthy team interaction. Members must feel comfortable and confident enough to participate fully.
Trust is mutual confidence in teammates' integrity and ability. People must be able to take risks, think outside the box, and share ideas without being shut down. Open, honest, direct communication inside the group is the hallmark of a trust-based team. Suzanne Zoglio (Teams at Work), quoted in AFH 1: nothing reduces trust faster than saying one thing inside the group and something else outside it. Speak to the right people; do not talk behind backs.
Trust also needs professional relationships, professional behavior, and a shared desire to hit objectives. Exchange feedback without fear of harsh criticism. AFH 1 separates honesty from brutal honesty—disagreement can stay professional. Leaders set the tone: open communication, collaboration free of selfish goals, rapport, no cliques, and lead by example.
Communication. Members must be able to assert themselves and share ideas. Teams that block honest sharing lose effectiveness; people withhold information or disengage. Leaders who hold information create an inaccurate or incomplete picture. Give complete access to necessary data, do not discount ideas or feelings, and practice active listening.
Cooperation combines skills to meet challenges, customer requirements, and mission changes. It produces synergistic results and shared ownership. Successful teams have few turf wars, little competitiveness, and an ability to forgive and forget. Unhelpful competition—including all-starring for extra attention—signals a power struggle. Reduce it by reemphasizing each member's specific roles and responsibilities.
Four stages of team building
Stages are normal and often inevitable. AFH 1 names four: forming, storming, norming, and performing.
| Stage | What AFH 1 says happens |
|---|---|
| Forming | Initial uncertainty; people find their place and accept rules; they explore acceptable behavior; transition from individual to member; a leader's guidance may be tested formally and informally |
| Storming | Conflicts arise; members resist the team and rebel against the task; probably the most difficult stage; the work looks harder than expected; impatient arguing; people lean on personal experience instead of collaboration |
| Norming | Cohesiveness and commitment; norms appear; competing loyalties are reconciled; members accept the team, roles, and each other's individuality; conflict drops; energy shifts to the objective |
| Performing | Proficiency and flexibility; relationships settled; the team diagnoses and solves problems; members accept strengths and weaknesses; an effective, cohesive, and productive unit |
SSgt application: a new crew after a PCS cycle is often forming—tested guidance is the stage, not automatic disrespect. TSgt application: a flight arguing every process after a new tasking is often storming; do not skip to performing.
Conflict management
Conflict is inevitable and often necessary for high performance. It is differences that produce interference or opposition. Positive conflict solves problems, increases understanding, and improves communication. Conflict is constructive when managed well and destructive when it blocks cooperation, degrades morale, and diverts attention from tasks. Avoiding conflict because of possible blowback still costs the unit; managing it reduces ambiguity and stimulates productivity.
AFH 1 also calls conflict an extended struggle or disagreement that frustrates a real or perceived concern. Sources often combine.
| Source | Testable point |
|---|---|
| Communication factors | The crux is usually miscommunication, including over-communication that is inaccurate or incomplete |
| Structural factors | Size, scarce resources, line-staff disputes when ideas are not heard, and rewards that look unfair |
| Personal behavior factors | Goals, perceptions, values, and personalities; align personal values with the USAF mission; personality clashes will exist—the response still has to stay professional |
Dr. Kenneth Thomas (Conflict and Negotiation Processes in Organizations) plots five styles on cooperativeness (willingness to satisfy the other) and assertiveness (how actively someone addresses the conflict). Consider who, the stakes, and the situation. The USAF Negotiation Center at Air University has additional resources.
| Style | Assertiveness / cooperativeness | Behavior | | --- | --- | | Competing (forcing) | High / low | Formal authority, threats, or power | | Collaborating | High / high | Honest discussion; a win for both groups; needs trust and openness | | Accommodating | Low / high | Giving in | | Avoiding | Low / low | Let it work itself out; can escalate if left unresolved | | Compromising | Some / some | Both give something up; partial satisfaction |
On the exam: the core of healthy team interaction is trust. The hardest stage is storming. The high-high win-win style is collaborating, not compromising. All-starring is fixed by restating roles. Four stages only.
According to AFH 1 Section 14A, healthy teams most often rest on trust, communication, and cooperation. Which of those sits at the core of all healthy team interaction?
A Technical Sergeant takes over a project team that has begun arguing about the task, resisting collaboration, and insisting each member's personal experience is enough. Which team-building stage does AFH 1 call probably the most difficult?
Using the conflict-management model AFH 1 attributes to Dr. Kenneth Thomas, which style is high assertiveness and high cooperativeness and seeks a win position for both groups?