The 4 stages of team development: Where are you?

Here's a checklist to make sure you're progressing your team through the stages of forming, storming, norming and performing

Add bookmark

The forming, storming, norming and performing model of group development was first proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965, who maintained that these phases are all necessary and inevitable in order for the team to grow, to face up to challenges, to tackle problems, to find solutions, to plan work, and to deliver results. 

Today Public Health Departments are employing the teaming concept on a regular basis to make quality improvements to their critical processes. Team leaders and managers need to understand how teams mature and when to intervene when things are not progressing as desired. This Teamwork Observation Check List (√) is designed to help observe a team to determine how they are maturing, where some problems might exits, and some tips to overcome them.

Don't miss any news, updates or insider tips from PEX Network by getting them delivered to your inbox. Sign up to our newsletter and join our community of experts. 

The forming, storming, norming and performing model of team development.

Stage 1: Forming

Characteristics Displayed By Team Members

Observed

Not Observed

Signs of excitement, anticipation and optimism for the project

 

 

Anxiety about the task

 

 

Gathering information on who is on the team and why

 

 

Hesitant Participation – everyone at best behavior

 

 

Testing behavioral expectations

 

 

Watching appointed leader for guidance and direction

 

 

Process starting to be established

 

 

Avoidance of conflict

 

 

Information gathering - Interested in the why of the team, when we meet, how long will this last, what are roles, etc

 

 

Other(s)

 

 

 

Tips to facilitate a move to the next stage:

  • Distribute a clear AIM Statement to all team members.
  • Let team members openly express concerns.
  • Discover common ground – use a JoHari Window.
  • Define what is appropriate team behavior.
  • Orient the team to scope of their task.
  • Clearly define what is to expected of each team member.
  • Introduce and train the team on the problem solving model to be used.

Stage 2: Storming

Characteristics Displayed By Team Members

Observed

Not Observed

Decision making is difficult - ideas compete for consideration

 

 

Challenging the rules

 

 

Defined problem solving process introduced

 

 

Listening to others is a problem

 

 

Conflict is evident in group interaction - defensiveness or competitiveness

 

 

Some tension arises people trying to dominate – some attempt to establish themselves – power struggle

 

 

Minimal task accomplishment

 

 

Leader being challenged

 

 

Some trust being built

 

 

Clarity of purpose increases but plenty of uncertainties persist

 

 

Other(s)

 

 

 

Tips to facilitate a move to next stage:

  • Constructive feedback on what is and is not working.
  • Even work load distribution.
  • Focus on the problem.
  • Develop ground rules.
  • Get the team away from conflict on competing ideas and get them to debate them constructively.
  • Different ideas compete for consideration; team members open up to each other and confront each other's ideas and perspectives.
  • Do not let team members focus on minutiae to evade real issues.
  • Start utilizing the problem solving model.
  • Help the team build its trust level.

Stage 3: Norming

Characteristics Displayed By Team Members

Observed

Not Observed

Positive feeling towards the leader emerge

 

 

Decisions are being reached through consensus

 

 

Members accept their roles and responsibilities

 

 

Commitment to the task is high

 

 

Comfortable and productive as a team

 

 

Follow a defined problem solving process

 

 

Team starts to become independent

 

 

Team leader can delegate tasks to sub groups

 

 

Other(s)?

 

 

 

Tips to facilitate a move to next stage:

  • Reinforce ground rules at the start of each team meeting.
  • Follow the problem solving model.
  • Use Brainstorming to get ideas flowing.
  • Get team members use to using data to resolve conflicts.
  • Confront destructive behaviors when they occur.

Stage 4: Performing

Characteristics Displayed By Team Members

Observed

Not Observed

Team clearly knows what it is doing – shared vision

 

 

Leader facilitates rather than leads

 

 

Team is focused on its improvement goals

 

 

Disagreements are resolved with data

 

 

Team functions with a high degree of independence

 

 

Team makes decisions easily

 

 

Team members understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and use them to achieve their goals

 

 

Other(s)?

 

 

 

Tips to facilitate a move to next stage:

  • Do not rest – finish the solving and fixing the problem.
  • Develop a handoff strategy – who will continue on the work of the team.
  • Conduct a lessons learned session on how we could have matured quicker to help other teams starting out.

Summary

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. Being a high performing team requires time and commitment on the part of all on the team to get to that stage.

As a team leader your job is to help your team reach and sustain high-performance. The Four Stages of Teamwork Observation Check List (√) was designed to help you be aware of the challenges the team will encounter.

PEX Report 2024 global state of process excellence

PEX Network's annual report reveals the current state and future trends of process excellence. Based on a study profiling hundreds of global process excellence leaders, the report provides insights on how to leverage innovation, generative AI, and process intelligence to achieve operational excellence, customer-centricity, and organizational growth. Download your copy of the PEX Report 2024/2025 today and benchmark your process excellence journey against your peers.

Download Now