Successfully Navigate the Four Stages of Team Development

Every work team is new at some point and it takes the members a while to gradually learn to work together and function effectively. Bruce Tuckman first studied and published his four stages of development in 1965 and they are still considered the backbone of normal team function. In 1977, a fifth stage was added: adjourning.

Why do the stages of team development matter? It’s valuable to understand these stages because they help us anticipate what’s ahead and what’s normal. Brilliant minds don’t always (and shouldn’t) think alike. Some conflict is typical and isn’t a sign that the members of a team won’t eventually function well together. Let’s review the team development stages you can expect:

 

Stage 1: Forming

Team members meet and begin to make the personal connections that will form the basis of their work together. There’s excitement as they share information about experiences, interests and knowledge and form first impressions. There’s some confusion around roles and responsibilities as well as projects and goals.

Don’t rush this stage, as the team is just beginning to understand how they will work together—who’ll be handling certain aspects and why, how the team will communicate, how they will make decisions, and how they’ll handle conflict. An experienced team leader can help guide team members to a shared understanding (that everyone has input on) of how the team will interact and solve problems. It’s also the time to clearly outline the project and what success looks like.  

 

Stage 2: Storming

Usually characterized by conflict, during this stage team members learn to work together. Differences in opinions, personalities, communication and work styles emerge. There is often competition for status and acceptance of ideas.

Progressing successfully through this stage depends on keeping things simple as team members learn how to solve problems together yet function independently. This takes strong communication skills, mutual respect and the ability to navigate conflict. Some team members will need to be more assertive and others will need to listen more effectively, keeping in mind that all perspectives are important to team outcomes. Incremental milestones are also helpful in adding clarity.

 

Stage 3: Norming

As team members adjust to each other’s differences, they begin to unify and get organized. They’re learning to work together, respect one another’s opinions and see the value in their differences. The team shares information, works through conflict more easily, stops competing with one another … and works toward a common goal in the agreed upon way. There is progress on projects and increasing momentum.

In this stage momentum will continue to increase as the team becomes more and more comfortable working together. Keep an eye out for upcoming obstacles that could throw things off.

Stage 4: Performing

The team hits its interdependent stride. Each team member works on his or her portion of the project, trusting and relying on others to complete theirs. They are motivated, solve problems quickly, and work through disagreement easily to make well-considered decisions. Team leaders have become superfluous at this point.

 

Stage 5: Adjourning

The project ends and the group disbands. Make time to celebrate the team’s accomplishments and consider lessons learned.

 

Not all teams make it through all the stages of team development. And the stages are not always linear. A “performing” team can easily revert back to “storming” if one individual stops communicating, a new member joins that group, or the project suddenly changes course.

Being aware of the stages and being intentional in how your teams moves through them can help you build a more successful team.