The 4 Stages of Team Development
In today’s corporate world, building efficient and effective teams is vital to the success of an organization. If you have been part of a team, you know it is a process. The ease of communication can ebb and flow. And conflict that did not exist in the beginning can appear along the way.
This is why it is important to understand the fact that teams develop and mature over a period of time. Knowing where your team is currently in can help you understand how to work through your current challenges and get to the next stage. Each stage of team development presents its own special challenges to a group of people striving to work together successfully by forming a well-oiled team. By knowing where they’re at, the team and the organization can take specific actions at each stage of team development to support the team’s success in accomplishing the team mission.
With a thoughtful look at each stage of team development, you can solve challenges before they derail the success and progress of the team. You cannot treat a team the same way at each stage of its development because the stages dictate different support actions. These interventions, taken at the right time, will allow your teams to develop and successfully meet their common goals.
Dr. Bruce Tuckman was one of the first to identify that teams experience distinct stages as they mature. His 1965 model is a template for the four stages that most successful teams experience: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing.
FORMING
This is the initial stage and includes team formation. As with any new situation, most people are on their best behavior. They are polite and a little reserved and may not share their true feelings or concerns. Trying to figure out how they fit into the situation can cause anxiety.
STORMING
It’s called Storming for a reason – conflicts abound. The initial “get-to-know-you” stage is over and now team members are starting to test boundaries. Their behavioral styles are becoming apparent as the niceties fade. As people start to understand their roles, they either settle in or maneuver for more influence. Leadership is tested as team goals can be tested and resented. Some teams move through this stage quickly, some never leave it. However, this stage is necessary as teams can only be successful if they are truthful.
NORMING
You will know your team has made it out of the storm and into the norm when the clouds of discontent and conflict have cleared. Relationships should have improved, disagreements caused by differences in behavioral styles clarified and interactions should be respectful. Your team members should be playing to their strengths and showing commitment to the team’s goals.
PERFORMING
The goal line for many teams…but not all teams make it. Your team members are taking themselves and each other seriously. They have moved beyond understanding differences to valuing them and leveraging individual strengths. Team members also hold themselves and each other accountable. At this point, leadership can shift among team members and is flexible to the situation at hand.
So Where Is Your Team Right Now?
Not every team moves through these stages in order and various activities such as adding a new team member can send the team back to an earlier stage. The length of time necessary for progressing through these stages depends on the experience of the members, the knowledge and skill of the team members, and the support the team receives.
To improve your team’s performance, the first step to your journey is to know where you’re starting from. To do this, Team Journeys is offering a free Team Assessment, wherein the results will be reported to you and will give you a clear picture of your team’s current development stage. The interventions we prescribe will depend on our findings during the assessment.