Four Stages of Team Development
Four Stages of Team Development
Introduction
team - group of people working together toward a common goal
Bruce Tuckman’s Theory of Team Development stages
- Forming
- Storming
- Norming
- Performing
Forming
Recognizing the stage
- goals and tasks/roles being defined
- stage defined by information gathering
- team guarded, polite
- collection of individuals instead of a group
How to help team
- encourage emotional connection and socializing
- provide clarity on goals and expectations
- communicate clear roles and responsibilities
- provide hands-on training
Storming
Recognizing the stage
- lower morale and optimism
- frustration or tension
- competitiveness or defensiveness
- increased openness and willingness to disagree
- interactions start to get real
- people more familiar and honest
- sign of stage is increased conflict, confrontation, and tension
- testing team rules/boundaries
- forming sub-groups
How to help
- play the facilitator role
- help team set ground rules for managing disagreements
- conduct more 1:1s to support everyone and give coaching
- reassert shared goals
- provide framework for making decisions and give team authority to make them
- remain positive
- normalize conflict as healthy
Norming
Recognizing the stage
- improved collaboration
- team has established systems and processes
- comfort among team members
- increased consensus
- team finding groove
- shared goals understood
risk of team getting comfortable and coasting in this stage
How to help
- give feedback
- delegate more
- coach/lead team to find answers
- encourage leadership within the group
- encourage team to use data for decisions
Performing
Recognizing the stage
- shared vision
- meets or exceeds goals
- members show master of roles
- team easily makes indepenant decisions
- consistent results
- understanding of individuals’ strengths and weaknesses
How to help
- practice continuous improvement
- increase expectations
- increase authority