The Five Stages of Team Development

The members may go their separate ways, or they may stay together to form a new team. This is when the team comes together and starts to get to know each other. The team will likely be excited to work together and will have a lot of energy.

While some teams think they can skip this stage, it’s important to dive into it with the expectation that there may be some conflict. In order to not get bottlenecked in the storming stage, members have to work together and play to each other’s strengths to overcome obstacles and stay on pace. Also, take the time to address and overcome conflicts early on so they don’t stay an issue throughout the other phases. In this stage, the team comes together for the first time, and members get to know each other.

The performing stage is critical to the team, and reaching it usually portends the success that’s to come. It also precipitates team learning, which is the process of gathering, discussing, and rolling out the strategies for team success. Team learning can happen through group initiatives, innovative leadership, and training and is essential in ensuring healthy team development. As strong personalities emerge, team leaders should ensure these individuals don’t inadvertently dominate the rest of the team and the project’s outcomes.

If you’re a team leader, it’s best to remember that an overlap between the storming and norming stages may appear. Your team can easily backslide into the storming stage, especially when new tasks arise or when handling the more complicated aspects of the project. For this reason, team leaders should be at hand to help members return to the norming stage. Although members understand each other, conflicts may still arise at the norming stage of team development. Nonetheless, the conflicts can’t spiral into dysfunction because the team has gelled. Members have a more profound commitment to each other and the project’s completion, so it’s easier to handle conflicts.

How to Help Your Team Progress Through the Stages of Group Development

The resource management feature provides users the visibility who is busy, and who is not, in real-time. They can also attach files, share sheets, get notified, view the activity log, export, email, and print. Note that one method for helping teams come together more quickly is the use of project management tools. If effectively implemented, project management software allows a team to collaborate, communicate, and complete tasks efficiently. Compiled below is a list of just five project management tools to help your team better integrate and communicate.

Renowned psychologist Bruce Tuckman created an easily-understood model in 1965. It illustrates how teams in different fields undergo five similar stages of group development. Understanding the stages of team development enables you to build successful and high-performing teams.

Five Stages of Team Development

Teambuilding.com is a leading authority on team building and engagement at work. Sometimes, these steps may not happen in order, and teams may return to or repeat steps. You can assess progress by asking for feedback from your team.

But you may have to help quieter team members to have their say. To avoid louder individuals dominating face-to-face or virtual team meetings, ask for, and hear, everyone’s point of view. The stage of group development when the team clarifies its goals and its strategy four stages of team development for achieving them. Like Tuckman’s model, these theories aim to enhance team performance. However, Tuckman’s seems to be more coherent and comprehensive, as it describes the process of team formation as a whole, while other theories focus on its specific aspects.

How Can Leaders Help at the Forming Teams Stage?

However, even teams built for permanent projects can still undergo the adjourning process due to restructuring and re-allocation. The stage can cause uncertainty, especially among team members who are unsure about their subsequent roles. Thus, leaders should be supportive and help members transition smoothly into the new roles. Some teams adjourn with silence, some with celebration, and others with sadness.

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. When conflicts are resolved, it can improve existing processes and bond members together. If everyone in your group thinks and acts the same, then why do you have a group? The benefit of working in a team is that you have access to diverse experiences, skills, and opinions that aren’t possible alone. Toggl Track is the time tracker that can slot into any team’s workflow.

Stage 4: The Performing Stage

Find tools that don’t require hours of training and automate basic functions to get the job done. Before committing to a tool, give your team some time to work with it and test it out to make sure it fits their needs. Lots of tools offer free trials, so use that time to experiment and check its compatibility with other products you use. By starting with a free trial, you have the freedom to learn as much as possible about the product before committing to it. Disagreements are unavoidable on teams, especially when each person on the team has a different perspective on how to approach the issues the team encounters. When you all work in the same location, it can be easier to hash out problems quickly.

• Performing— The performing stage is when the team is firing on all cylinders.
• In the performing stage, consensus and cooperation have been well-established and the team is mature, organized, and well-functioning.
• The five stages are not hard to understand as they have very simple logic.
• Renowned psychologist Bruce Tuckman created an easily-understood model in 1965.
• The team can handle conflict and proceed with the project successfully.

They start tolerating the whims and fancies of the other team members. The danger here is that members may be so focused on preventing conflict that they are reluctant to share controversial ideas. You may notice that the diagram at the beginning of this article is circular, not linear. Team building is an ongoing process, not a one-and-done operation. Your team roster may shift, outside circumstances may change, and you may need to restart the cycle.

Modern team development with Charma

The major drawback of the norming stage is that members may begin to fear the inevitable future breakup of the team; they may resist change of any sort. But, you can point out areas of improvement or strengths to the group as a whole, without pointing fingers. End each meeting with insightful and constructive feedback that improves the group process.

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. In project management, the Tuckman Ladder is referenced and used extensively by project managers to help them assemble and guide teams toward success.

Decoded! The 5 Stages of Team Development Explained

A group might be happily Norming or Performing, but a new member might force them back into Storming, or a team member may miss meetings causing the team to fall back into Storming. Project guides will be ready for this, and will help the team get back to Performing as quickly as possible. As the group starts to familiarize themselves, roles and responsibilities will begin to form. It is important for team members to develop relationships and understand what part each person plays. You can also choose to end each meeting with insightful and constructive feedback that improves the group process. To take it one step further, leave specific time for this feedback when you outline the meeting agenda.

According to the New South Wales Government behaviour is how someone acts . It is what a person does to make something happen, to make something change or to keep things the same. Behaviour is a response to things that are happening and can be on two levels, internally – thoughts and feelings and/or externally – the environment, including other people. It is understanding why someone does what they do that is much more complicated .

Establish effective conflict resolution techniques to prevent tension from causing deeper damage. Unfortunately, many organizations don’t reflect that reality, and in the absence of healthy team environments employees tend to work in silos and get things done alone versus collaboratively. They have learned to work together and have some momentum in the team process. In this stage team members are comfortable with each other and utilize their different perspectives to find workable solutions. In the first stage of forming, this newly chartered group of people meets and gets to know each other.

If teams get through the storming stage, conflict is resolved and some degree of unity emerges. In the norming stage, consensus develops around who the leader or leaders are, and individual member’s roles. Interpersonal differences begin to be resolved, and a sense of cohesion and unity emerges. 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.

Implement quick and effective problem-solving strategies with your HR team. Maintain open and consistent communication, especially if things go wrong and changes need to be made. Create a space for easy and open communication, such as a chat app. Utilise a white board or post-it notes to make every team member’s ideas seen. Come prepared with relevant and fun questions to get people talking and learning about one another.