The five stages of group development are a group-forming model that describes the phases a team of people working together goes through. This model, also called the Tuckman ladder, was developed by psychologist Bruce Tuckman in his 1965 essay “Developmental sequence in small groups”. It shows how individuals form a high-performing team, focused on a specific goal.

Although norming is a calm stage of team development, there are still things that you can and should do to help things run more smoothly. Clarify the expected stages of group development right from the start, to highlight that conflicts and problems throughout the project are normal, and not a sign of failure. This is the exact reason why stages of team development are so important — the team has to keep moving forward. If your team has reached this stage, you’re on a clear path to success. You have a mature, well-organized group now fully-focused on reaching the project goals established in the Forming stage.

The 5 Stages of Team Development

Everyone is on the same page and driving full-speed ahead towards the final goal. As new tasks arise, groups may still experience a few conflicts. If you’ve already dealt with disagreement before, it will probably be easier to address this time. Establishing ground rules from the get-go ensures they get followed as the group moves from one stage to the next. A critical rule to emphasize is that team members should always listen to each other and feel free to consult and raise concerns. No idea is too stupid to raise, and no question is too silly to ask.

• Focus on building a shared understanding across your team and with stakeholders.
• Chances are, you’ll uncover some false assumptions as well – especially if your team had been cruising along in the “norming” or “performing” stage until recently.
• The team may need to develop both task-related skills and group process and conflict management skills.
• Now that we know where the stages come from, let’s break down the ins and outs of each stage and what you can expect from your team in each.

The five stages are not hard to understand as they have very simple logic. The choice of the stages’ names was not random – the endings form a pattern, as Tuckman tried to make the stages easy to recall. This way, you will see how much time individuals need for a specific task. Measure team and individual performance, to recognize the contribution.

Team Norms and Cohesiveness

Early on, create an environment that is open and non-judgmental. Write down every idea that is offered, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. Some of the greatest entrepreneurs and inventors have had failed companies and ill-conceived ideas.

Almost all teams lack one or more of these criteria at some point in their tenure. Team development strives to meet these criteria with ongoing reflection and growth. Like any form of development, it takes time and dedication to be effective.

Stage 2: The Storming Stage

By recognizing these stages, we can adapt our leadership style to the needs of the team. Performing is where the team members have learned team development stages to efficiently coordinate and resolve conflicts. The team focuses their energy on their goals and productivity (Stein, n.d).

Sales LeadersFellow helps Sales leaders run productive 1-on-1s, team meetings, forecasting calls, and coaching sessions. Each of these stages plays a crucial role in bringing a team from Point A to Point B. However, not every team will progress through these stages in a neat, linear fashion. As a leader, it’s important to be aware of the different stages your team is going through and how you can help them move forward. Allow your team to openly discuss issues and share ideas. Forming— In the forming stage, team members are getting to know each other and trying to figure out how they can work together. This is a time of uncertainty and confusion, as team members are trying to determine their roles within the team.

The fourth stage of team development is usually where teams reach their peak performance. This is because the level of cohesion and trust between team members has steadily increased over the three previous stages. Forming is a period of testing and orientation in which members learn about each other and evaluate the benefits and costs of continued membership. People tend to be polite, will defer to authority, and try to find out what is expected of them and how they will fit into the team (McShane et al., 2018, p. 232). The team development stages also help the members better acquaint themselves with each other’s skills and prepare them for future positions.

The Importance of a Baseline in Project Management

By taking these steps, leaders can help their teams progress through the stages of group development and achieve their goals. It’s important to remember that not all teams will linearly go through these stages, and it’s okay for teams to revisit earlier stages as needed. The key is to remain flexible and adaptive in your approach to team management, always keeping the team’s needs and objectives in mind. The norming stage of team development is the calm after the storm. In this stage of team development, team members fall into a rhythm as a cohesive taskforce.

Everything falls into place at this stage as everyone works as one cohesive unit. The team gains momentum in the workflow and is more comfortable with each other while understanding the importance of multiple perspectives. Performing – Trust and a level of cohesion between team members are established. For any team to be effective, the people in the team must perform together and put in equal effort for quality outcomes.

Storming

Those teams that do reach this stage not only enjoy team members who work independently but also support those who can come back together and work interdependently to solve problems. Once their efforts are under way, team members need clarity about their activities and goals, as well as explicit guidance about how they will work independently and collectively. This leads to a period known as storming—because it can involve brainstorming ideas and also because it usually causes disruption. During the storming stage members begin to share ideas about what to do and how to do it that compete for consideration. Team members start to open up to each other and confront one another’s ideas and perspectives.

Norming, the third stage of team development:

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True interdependence is the norm of this stage of group development. The team is flexible as individuals adapt to meet the needs of other team members. This is a highly productive stage both personally and professionally. At the norming stage, a team leader, official or unofficial, steps back and gives individuals more autonomy, not giving the role up completely, of course. Keep in mind that no one person needs to be responsible for the team.

Members have an increased desire for structural clarification and commitment. Alasdair A. K. White together with his colleague, John Fairhurst, examined Tuckman’s development sequence when developing the White-Fairhurst TPR model. They simplify the sequence and group the forming-storming-norming stages together as the “transforming” phase, which they equate with the initial performance level. This is then followed by a “performing” phase that leads to a new performance level which they call the “reforming” phase. The forming → storming → norming → performing model of group development was first proposed by psychological researcher Bruce Tuckman in 1965.

Challenges have a minimal impact on team performance and morale because members have strategies for resolving them without compromising project timelines and progress. A team’s performance is at peak capacity at this stage because everyone has learned to identify and leverage each other’s strengths for the common good. Getting everyone on the same wavelength sounds easy on paper, but that isn’t the case. It’s challenging to balance common and individual goals within a team especially during moments of discord, failure, or stress. In any team, members can’t work in tandem if there’s no chemistry between.

Team performance increases during this stage as members learn to cooperate and begin to focus on team goals. However, the harmony is precarious, and if disagreements re-emerge the team can slide back into storming. When you can identify which development phase your teams are in, it’s much easier to provide exactly the direction they need so they feel more focused and connected. A continuous improvement mindset is the enemy of the status quo.

Elements to Build a Strong Employee and Employer Relationship

Instead of letting team members battle it out in private messages select the best solution, be ready to invite them into a chat room to offer advice or ask some key questions. Very few team members will have your perspective on the entire project (or the full scope of your team’s segment of the project), so don’t be afraid to jump in. When you do find a good solution or process to help resolve difficult situations, make sure you document those immediately. The team can consult this record when future problems arise and make adaptations as needed.

Mourning because team members are paring after forging deep relationships during the project and celebration for a job well done. This is the second stage of the team development process. It involves a challenging yet critical transition from the laid-back forming stage. There’s a possibility of failure at the storming stage because it’s here that conflicts start to manifest.