Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing

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Building a new team?

You can't expect a new team to perform well when it first comes together.

The Psychologist Bruce Tuckman has created a model that describes the path that most teams follow on their way to high performance. He identified 4 stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing.

When you understand what typically happens in the different phases, you can help your new team become effective more quickly

Forming

Using either a top-down or bottom-up approach, a team comes together to address a problem and propose solutions. Each member of the team orients themselves to the project task. They begin to establish relationships within the group. It’s typically a time of great positivity.

Storming

This is the most dangerous phase in terms of team success. Team leaders establish roles for each team member. This often brings out many negative aspects of group behavior. For example, it can lead to interpersonal conflict and “turf wars” as people stake out the parts of the project they want to control. It can lead to members of the team not appreciating the perspective of others. Some people may even resist joining the team at all. This is a point where the team is most likely to fall apart.

Norming

A corner is turned. Team members buy into the process and begin to work together effectively. They develop trust with each other. The team achieves better cohesion as people find ways to work together, despite their differences.

Performing

The team begins to excel. Having put the needs of the group ahead of personal needs, the team begins to focus on a shared goal and find ways to solve any problems that come up. Typically, this means that the structure of the team is fixed, but the roles of each member are flexible.