The 5 Stages of Team Development: Tuckman's Model
Building High-Performing Teams the Smart Way
In this issue:
Introducing Tuckman’s Model
Deep Dive: The 5 Stages of Team Development
Applying Tuckman’s Model in Practice
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Download the Tuckman’s Model Worksheet
Complementary Frameworks
References
Final Thoughts
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What would you say is the most important part of your role as a leader?
When I first stepped into management, I thought it was all about driving outcomes and managing operations. After all, you’re responsible for the results your team delivers. You oversee projects, keep things on track, and support your team through challenges.
But then I learned a powerful truth: great leadership isn’t just about managing teams. It’s about transforming them into high-performing ones.
That’s where the magic happens.
Building a high-performing team doesn’t happen by chance. It’s a journey, one with its own stages, struggles, and triumphs.
Thankfully, there’s a framework that helps navigate this journey —Tuckman’s 5 Stages of Team Development — and in this post, we will dive in and explore actionable strategies to develop your team into a truly high-performing one.
Introducing Tuckman’s Model
Bruce Tuckman, an American psychologist, proposed a model for team development in 1965 which has stood the test of time and popularly known as Tuckman’s Model.
Tuckman’s model outlines five distinct stages that teams typically progress through:
Forming: Getting Started
Storming: Dealing with Conflicts
Norming: Working Together Better
Performing: Working at Their Best
Adjourning: Wrapping Things Up
Let’s dive into each stage and explore how you can lead your team through these stages, as well as tackle the pitfalls and challenges.
We will also illustrate each stage with real-world examples to further drive clarity and context.
Stage 1 - Forming: Getting Started
The forming stage kicks in when you put together a team to work on a new project, and typically involves team members who may not have worked together in the past.
Everyone in the team is just getting to know each other.
As an example, rememer the first day of your school when you were a child? The forming stages is like your first day of school, or your first day in a new class. Everything is new, scary, and overwhelming.
What you will see in this stage:
People are polite but cautious
Team members unsure about their goals
Your team is looking to you for guidance
What you can do:
Set clear goals so your team members know what is expected of them
Help team members get to know each other
Give clear instructions on tasks to avoid confusion
Now, let’s consider another example: Imagine you’re leading a team to create a new mobile app. In this stage, you might have a meeting where everyone introduces themselves. You would explain what the app should do, by when you expect the app to be delivered, and who is responsible for what. You could also play a fun icebreaker game to help everyone feel more comfortable and get to know each other.
Stage 2 - Storming: Dealing with Conflicts
The storming stage follows the forming stage, and can be tough.
As people have spent some time with each other, they discover differences in styles and approaches, and start to voice their opinions.
In the school example, this is when you get to know more about your classmates - their preferences, behaviors and attitudes. You like to hang out with some, but stay away from those that you can’t seem to get along with.
This can lead to disagreements and conflicts between team members.
What you will see in this stage:
Arguments and conflicts between team members
Power struggles and in-fighting
Some resistance to tasks being assigned
What you can do:
Encourage open and honest communication by developing trust
Help mine for and resolve conflicts
Offer support and guidance, and remind everyone in the team of the shared goals
Continuing with the app team example, in your team, the designer may disagree with the engineer who wrote the code. You can bring them into the same room, and remind them of the ‘shared goal’ of the app. Healthy disagreements are good as they help the team come up with better solutions, but what you want to look out for are power struggles and conflicts, which may be destructive.
Stage 3 - Norming: Working Together Better
In the norming stage, team members start to resolve their differences and work together more smoothly.
They also get to know each other better and more deeply than before.
In the school example, you start to better understand each other differences. Although you may have a smaller group of ‘close friends’, you are still comfortable working with others during class assignments and projects.
What you will see in this stage:
Higher trust, and better teamwork
Everyone in the team falling into a ‘routine’ that they follow as part of their roles
More open, honest communication
What you can do:
Empower the team to lead the project by stepping back a bit and observing
Celebrate team achievements and intermediate milestones
Continue to reinforce team goals, and mine for hidden conflicts
In the app team example, in the norming stage you will notice your team working together better now. The designer and coder from before might be collaborating better and having healthy disagreements. You will start seeing the team pick up their speed in execution and sharing progress through weekly progress meetings. You should remember to celebrate the progress to reinforce and motivate the team to continue on that path.
Stage 4 - Performing: Working at Their Best
If everything goes in the right direction, the next stage after norming is performing. In the performing stage, your team is working really well together, and they are almost self-driven.
In the school example, you are at your best - you love going to school, you enjoy being in the company of your friends and classmates, and you feel motivated to complete your work while also having a good time with your friends.
What you will see in this stage:
High productivity and self-driven
Strong sense of purpose towards the shared goals
Team members are no longer fighting, but are willing to try new roles and approaches
What you can do:
Empower and give leadership opportunities to team members
Step back further, and only get involved in strategic blockers
Encourage your team to come up with innovative solutions and approaches
In your app team, in the performing stage the team is moving at a high speed (or flying at a cruising altitude, as they say). They are executing on tasks and are working more or less independently without needing your help. This is a good time for you to use your time on future strategic areas.
Stage 5 - Adjourning: Wrapping Things Up
Every project comes to an end at some point. The final stage of a project is adjourning, in which the team is disbanded so the team members can then be reassigned to other projects.
In the school example, this is when you graduate from your school and move on to your next chapter.
What you will see in this stage:
Mixed feelings (pride in what they’ve done, but sad it’s ending)
Lots of reflections and retrospectives
Celebrating the project’s completion
What you can do:
Celebrate what the team has achieved, announce any special awards
Make sure project knowledge is recorded for the future
Work with team members on their next project assignments
In the app team, in the adjourning stage you could have a team event to celebrate the completion of the project. You can announce special awards during this event to recognize the key contributions. And you would help team members transition to other projects.
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Applying Tuckman’s Model in Practice
Okay, so we reviewed the five stages, but how practical are these, and how do you apply them in your work as a leader?
Now, let’s turn our attention to making this model work for your team so you can turn them into a high-performing team.
Next, we will:
Take a practical view of Tuckman’s Stages - what works and what doesn’t in practice
Review common mistakes you should avoid while using this model
Put the power of this model into practice with the Tuckman’s Model worksheet, which includes step-by-step prompts to guide you through the application process
Review some complementary frameworks that work well with Tuckman’s model
Review additional resources to further your understanding
Close out with some key takeaways