We’ve all heard the phrase “teamwork makes the dream work.” And although it may be slightly cliche, there’s a lot of truth to it. Members of any team can’t work efficiently together without having any time to get acquainted with each other. In 1965, psychologist Bruce Tuckman developed a model that shows how teams in various fields go through the same stages of group development. Learning these five stages of team development will allow you to shape successful teams that perform to their best potential. 

Forming

The first stage is forming, which is when the members within the team first come together to meet. It can be considered the period of orientation when everyone is getting to know one another and becoming acquainted. Think of the forming stage like the first day of school or the first day at a new job. 

The forming stage is also where team members discuss things like:

• Team goals

• Individual roles

• Strategy

• Ground rules

Storming 

Next up is storming. Stage two of five is considered the most critical but also the most difficult to go through. It can be riddled with conflict as the individual personalities and work styles clash within the team. Think of this phase like when you move in with a friend you’ve never lived with before, and you slowly start to notice the little things about them that get on your nerves. The same is likely to happen with members of your team. 

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. 

Norming 

This is when the team moves past their previous quarrels and begins to recognize and value their teammates’ strengths. During this stage, team members increasingly respect those who are in leadership roles. Now that everyone has begun to bond and familiarize themselves with the team processes, teammates feel comfortable giving each other constructive feedback as they work toward accomplishing new tasks. 

Since these new tasks often come with a high degree of difficulty, it is not uncommon for groups to regress back into the storming phase. Even if a group slides back into old behavior, members’ new decision-making skills will make conflicts easier to resolve than they were during the initial storming phase.

Performing 

The performing phase is the happiest of all the stages of development. In this stage, your team performance is at an all-time high. This high-performance level means all team members are self-reliant and confident enough in their own problem-solving skills that they can function without oversight from the leaders. Everyone is working like a well-oiled machine, free of conflict and moving in sync toward the same end goal. 

Adjourning 

This final stage actually wasn’t added to the Tuckman model until 1977, and it is the most melancholy of all the stages of team formation. The adjourning phase assumes that project teams only exist for a set period of time; once the team’s mission is accomplished, the team itself dissolves. You can equate this stage to a breakup since team members often find it difficult to separate from people with whom they’ve formed close bonds. In fact, this phase is also sometimes known as the “mourning phase” because it is common for team members to experience a feeling of loss when the group is disbanded. 

The flowchart illustrates how project team personnel may be assigned and several key decision points or critical interfaces (alliance)  in developing a project team. Within many organizations, this process emerges as the result of protracted (never-ending) negotiations with functional or departmental supervisors. 

The steps involved in project team building begin with the selection of personnel to staff the project team. This process can be complicated, particularly due to the high potential for conflict and negotiation with functional managers who may retain effective control over project team members. 

Following an analysis of skill requirements and staff availability, the team-building process typically involves matching the best people to the identified project tasks, while at the same time understanding the need to make these staffing decisions in collaboration with other top managers or departmental heads.