4 Stages of Team Development

You can evaluate accomplishments in meeting predetermined goals for every team member, but you need to understand their development to have a productive team. A productive team delivers success for your business, and to accomplish goals, you need to identify your team’s behavioral patterns. But how are you going to do that? If you need to become more familiar with the 4 stages of team development, now is the best time to learn more about Tuckman’s theory.

It was in the 1960s when Psychologist Bruce W. Tuckman came up with a fantastic idea to understand the progress of teams. His description contains 4 different stages, which we will discuss in the following. To underscore your team’s needs, you need to understand each of the 4 stages of team development.

Tuckman’s stages of group development

Bruce Tuckman dedicated his career to studying group dynamics and introduced 4 stages of team development that will demonstrate how other teams progress and what are the key contributors.

The stages are commonly known as Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. In the following, we will help you identify each of these stages of team forming to underline the needs of your team.

Stage 1: Forming

The Forming stage is the foundation that will set up the next 3 stages. At this point, everyone gets to know each other, and people are excited to be a part of a team, and everyone looks to the leader to understand what the team members are collectively working towards. During the Forming stage, the leader should provide clear information about the work ahead and ensure team motivation.

It is really important to help the team learn more about what is required of them; doing so they will feel more confident. The forming stage is when everyone wonders how they will fit into the team and how their performance is measured. It is the time to establish yourself as a leader, and you do not need to introduce yourself as a leader as long as you act like one. A leader provides enough information to make expectations and principles clear.

 

Behaviors and Thoughts in Forming Stage

In this stage, you may observe the following behaviors and thoughts from each team member:

• Anxiety
• Tentative joining
• Uncertainty
• Excitement
• Avoids controversy
• Politeness
• Need for approval
• Suspicious
• Fearful
• Optimistic
• Full of anticipation
• Apprehension

You need to provide the team with a mission and vision so they have a clear understanding of what is going on. Try to establish tasks and expectations. During the Forming stage, you must identify each member’s responsibilities and roles. Talk about your principles, and remember to provide guides and instructors. Your team needs time to get acquainted; you should create a positive atmosphere.

 

Stage 2: Storming

During the Storming stage of team development, your team has started to move towards goals, and they are trying to function together, bringing new ideas to the table and competing with each other. They might be frustrated or even angry with the team’s progress.

You might find your team turning on each other instead of relying on one another; they will compete for responsibility; therefore, you need to intervene and pinpoint improvement and try to make a high-performing team that can accomplish tasks and solves problems.

Behaviors and thoughts in the Storming stage

Behaviors and thoughts will be completely different at this stage:

• Less polite
• Arguing among members
• Disagreements
• Frustration
• Hearing frequent complaints
• Vying for leadership
• Lack of role clarity
• Power struggles
• Feel Defensive
• Confused
• Question the wisdom of members and leaders and the whole mission
• Jealousy
• Tension

As a leader during the Storming stage, you need to build inter and intra-personal relationships and manage disagreements. You need to identify personal differences, listen to each team member, clarify the team purpose, and break the main goal into smaller pieces if necessary.

The Storming stage might be one of the most important phases of team development, determining the leader’s power in solving unprecedented problems. If the stage is passed according to the plan, you will have a team with a problem-solving mentality instead of a testing mentality.

Stage 3: Norming

In the Norming stage, the team member starts to appreciate each other strength and even respect the leadership. At this point, team members’ responsibilities are clear, and everyone plays his role to accomplish the team’s ultimate goal. During the Norming stage of Tuckman’s stages of group development, the leadership shift from one person in charge to shared leadership.

As self-approval increases, the team might neglect new ideas and creative thinking. As a leader, you must keep everyone on track and encourage them to ensure success.

 

Behaviors and thoughts in Norming stage

At this point, you will witness different behaviors and thoughts:

• Argue over processes
• Open communication
• Focus on tasks
• Shared problem solving
• Form team routine
• Confident members
• More Acceptance
• General sense of trust
• Freedom to express

The leader must develop a decision-making process during the Norming stage team and be open to new ideas. Promote team interaction and give feedback and try to keep every member involved. At this point, you find yourself having a team that shares feelings and give feedback to each other, and creativity is high. At this point, members might fear the inevitable future changes that might break up the team. Because at this stage, everyone feels like they belong to the team, and being a member of your team becomes a norm in their life, and they will defiantly resist any possible changes.

 

Stage 4: Performing

Performing is the final stage of team building when everyone knows his role and functions according to the plan. During this stage, team members help each other out since your team has grown through the previous 4 stages of team development. At this point, team members learn how to work together and are satisfied with the team’s progress. Members through the four stages of team development started to feel confident in their own and their teammates’ abilities.

Behaviors and Thoughts in Performing Stage

In the Performing stage, you will observe the following thoughts and behaviors:

• A clear understanding of roles
• The team develops and organizes independently
• Appreciation of each other’s abilities
• Empathy for each other
• Show commitment to the team
• General sense of satisfaction

The leader must provide the team with project guides and information to ensure the team is on track. At this point, shared leadership is practiced through the 4 stages of team development, and a single teammate is not in charge, and the whole team is offering positive reinforcement and support. Remember that reaching the Performing stage is a dream for many teams, and it is only achieved when everything goes according to the 4 stages of team development. Those teams that reach the Performing stage experience deep personal relations and work independently.

At this point, your team moves towards its goal and makes progress cause the whole team is committed to the team’s mission, and they should deepen their knowledge since the team’s competence is high. In the Performing stage, your team can evaluate its performance, both what went well and what didn’t, and the team can also outline future needs.

The Performing stage is the dream of every leader since the team is mature enough to invent new products and services and solve problems on its own. During this stage, team members are fully confident with their experience and abilities and can rely on each other’s if they miscarry.

Team development stages

Following the four stages of team development, you might reach the final stage and find yourself working on a high-performing team which is a growthful experience, but it is not the end of team building.

You should upgrade Tuckman’s 4 stages of team development based on your unique team. It would be best to have still a team focused on products and processes. The four stages of team deployment can be an endless cycle since with every member coming or going and with every change in environment, you might find the team cycle back to the early stages. Although if you identify and address changes directly and at the right time, the team might remain in the performing stage.

If you plan to build a team of your own, you need to apply Tuckman’s four stages of team building to establish trust and understanding and build a solid relationship for a successful performance.

To have a productive and happy team, the leader must learn about the four phases listed above and establish which stage your team is at the moment to work out how you need to improve. Build tight bonds and maintain team flexibility.