The 5 Stages of Team Development

Our discussion so far has focused mostly on a team as an entity, not on the individuals inside the team. This is like describing a car by its model and color without considering what is under the hood. External characteristics are what we see and interact with, but internal characteristics are what make it work. In teams, the internal characteristics are the people in the team and how they interact with each other. Recently, several teams in our engineering department undertook a massive, ludicrously complex, business-critical infrastructure project. The number of risks and dependencies sent these established and cohesive dev teams into a flurry of (ultimately, unproductive and/or counter-productive) activity.

As new elements are added or subtracted, the dynamic is altered. 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. With deeper insight into personal and group processes, members can recognize strengths and weaknesses amongst individuals and within themselves.

Project guides will be ready for this, and will help the team get back to Performing as quickly as possible. If your team has reached this stage, you’re on a clear path to success. You have a mature, well-organized group now fully-focused on reaching the project goals established in the Forming stage. Instead, they adopt an open exchange of ideas and opinions and learn about what it’s really like to work together.

STORMING

The team may start thinking strategically about their work and balance work on initiatives and process improvements. The roles and boundaries are typically unclear at the Storming stage. Team members may not like the work style of their new colleagues, challenge the emerging team norms and resist control. Managers must ensure that the team norms are discussed, accepted, and followed by each team member. If you’ve asked team members to update progress documents weekly, check to make sure it’s being done. Set reminders for yourself to check in with team members, or send calendar events so that making updates is always top of mind and getting done.

• This is because the level of cohesion and trust between team members has steadily increased over the three previous stages.
• Team members may not like the work style of their new colleagues, challenge the emerging team norms and resist control.
• Remember that no matter what, problems and conflict can still emerge, but they’re handled and dealt with in a constructive and honest manner.
• Adapting to the context, influencing and guiding the team, and making the best decisions possible, adjusted to each stage of the team’s development.
• If your team has reached this stage, you’re on a clear path to success.
• Agenda TemplatesKeep all of your meetings running smoothly with these pre-built meeting agenda templates.

Interpersonal pain points are all kinds of awkward but they are not the norm. That comes next, if teams are able to communicate productively and find a way to work together. Getting comfortable with each other leads to connections, and connections pull people out of their individualistic attitudes.

PERFORMING

Attributes like trust, understanding, and support are also built by the little, everyday things that make a group of people into a successful team formation. Make time for watercooler chat in a way that works for everyone, so there are group topics that everyone can laugh over. At this initial stage, the team is essentially a collection of individuals beginning to think about the project and the role they’ll fill. Each person is operating from their personal vantage point, focused on the “what’s in it for me” reasons for joining the team.

Whether you’re just getting started or are well on your way, we can help. When this happens, it’s important to take stock of what your team needs. Your team feels confident, excited and satisfied with their work. This gives them an opportunity to recognize their abilities as well as those of their teammates. Your team asks questions formulated in ways that are rooted in emotional intelligent practices. They feel confident and comfortable when approaching you with concerns and questions.

Download a spreadsheet with each of the characteristics you can observe at each stage of the forming, storming, norming and performing process. Being part of a high-performance team can be a rewarding experience for those on the team. But if the team does not reach the high performing stage it can be extremely frustrating for team members.

Initially, during the forming and storming stages, norms focus on expectations for attendance and commitment. Later, during the norming and performing stages, norms focus on relationships and levels of performance. Performance norms are very important because they define the level of work effort and standards that determine the success of the team.

Earnings Reports “Open company, no bullshit” isn’t just one of our values. Here’s what we’re sharing with our investors and stakeholders each quarter. Hybrid Work PanelInsights from leaders at Loom, Upwork, Oyster, Because Mondays, and Fellow on how to embrace Hybrid Work. PodcastSupermanagers is for managers, like you, who want to be extraordinary at the fine craft of management. Agenda TemplatesKeep all of your meetings running smoothly with these pre-built meeting agenda templates. Browser ExtensionsAccess meeting notes inside of Google Meet and get helpful details through Google Calendar events.

Cross-Functional MeetingsStay aligned on projects, drive progress and accountability, and improve collaboration. StreamsStreams are digital notepads to help you organize projects, share OKRs, and whatever else you dream up. MeetingsBuild collaborative agendas, record notes and action items in real-time, and never forget what was discussed. The truth is, no team has lasting success if it does not implement changes.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEXT DESIGN PROJECT

Professional facilitator Kimberly Douglas, shares successful methods for leaders to learn how to hold their team accountable by first helping them fully understand their value and purpose. She then engages them in learning the skills to set clear expectations and effective follow-up accountability. As a team leader your job is to help your team reach and sustain high-performance. Here’s a checklist to make sure you’re progressing your team through the stages of forming, storming, norming and performing.

Finally, they should ensure the team can resolve internal conflicts and disagreements. For your team to work collaboratively with few interruptions, they need tools that operate intuitively and will save them time. Find tools that don’t require hours of training and automate basic functions to get the job done. For example, if the project includes updating social media, sending email marketing campaigns, or even creating lead magnets, a tool like HubSpot is great for this level of marketing automation. 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.

Stage #1 — The Forming Stage

“Rhythm helps bring everything together in one place for me to have true transparency across different business units. Personally without it, I’d be lost with too many things to track.” According to our Project Management Statistics 2021, an astonishing 92% of people believe that collaboration with their teammates could be improved. Gallup have been studying relationships at work for over thirty years and their research has consistently found that having a best friend at work leads to better performance. In 1965, a psychological researcher called Bruce Tuckman was focused on the theory of group dynamics.

Clarity as to what success looks like at each milestone will give your team a much-needed confidence boost. Maybe your team is humming along in the “performing” stage, then a new person joins. Likewise, a strategic pivot for the company sends your team back to the “storming” phase. The goal of Bruce Tuckman’s Stages model was to help project leaders understand how their team members were building relationships together. As it turns out, people approach tasks differently depending on the quality of their relationships with their co-workers.

Team Development: 4 Stages Every Team Experiences

I recommend building it out in three phases as you define the problem space, validate your assumptions, and get ready to execute. The team needs clarity and connection more than anything else at this stage. Take the time to call out assumptions about the work and how you’ll work together. Solving problems face-to-face instead of over email or chat is a good investment right now because you’ll get a richer sense of who your teammates are as people.

During the Ending Stage, some team members may become less focussed on the team’s tasks and their productivity may drop. Alternatively, some team members may find focussing on the task at hand is an effective response to their sadness or sense of loss. The most commonly used framework for a team’s stages of development was developed in the mid-1960s by Bruce W. Tuckman.

Module 8: Groups, Teams, and Teamwork

Differences among members are appreciated and used to enhance the team’s performance. Behaviors during the Norming stage may include members making a conscious effort to resolve problems and achieve group harmony. There might be more frequent https://globalcloudteam.com/ and more meaningful communication among team members, and an increased willingness to share ideas or ask teammates for help. Team members refocus on established team groundrules and practices and return their focus to the team’s tasks.

It’s important to demonstrate the skills you want the team to develop. From a profitability point of view, it can also help to track the time spent on your projects. This way, you’ll know exactly how long everything took and this can help you to improve your pricing and planning on future projects. The most important thing to do here is ensure that your teams have everything they need to be successful.

As the group develops cohesion, leadership changes from ‘one’ teammate in charge to shared leadership. Team members learn they have to trust one another for shared leadership to be effective. How did you know what behaviors were acceptable or what level of performance was required? Teams usually develop norms that guide the activities of team members. Team norms set a standard for behavior, attitude, and performance that all team members are expected to follow.

The team is flexible as individuals adapt to meet the needs of other team members. This is a highly productive stage both personally and professionally. This stage four stages of team development begins to occur as the process of organizing tasks and processes surface interpersonal conflicts. Leadership, power, and structural issues dominate this stage.