Some teams adjourn with silence, some with celebration, and others with sadness. Regardless of the length or success of a project, each team deserves a hearty affirmation of its concerted efforts. The adjourning phase is a fantastic opportunity for leaders to encourage long-term connections, reflect on the growth of the team, and celebrate the project closing.

stages of team development

And, now that you’ve figured out established practices that help you collaborate effectively, share those with other teams. 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. In the earlier stages of your team’s formation, establish a clear communication plan. A communication plan is an outline of how your team is going to communicate important information to key stakeholders.

How to help your team through the stages of group development

Effective communication is one of the fundamental distinctions between successful and unsuccessful teams. For practical cooperation and communication, there must be open lines of contact. Additionally, you might want to be extremely clear about what each participant is expected to perform.

stages of team development

In such a case, we will also determine the importance of team formation stages and show how you can improve the process. This step was added to the existing model of group development by Tuckman in 1977. Self-assessment is an important part of the team development process and using a structured framework can help ensure a productive conversation that doesn’t overspill or create further conflict. The learnings from this activity can then be used to resolve issues, strengthen the group and help move the team from Norming to Performing. In the adjourning stage, most of the team’s goals have been accomplished.

Adjourning — Success! You made it

When organizations develop high-performing teams, the magic starts to happen. Team members develop a strong team culture and create efficient workflows. Tasks at this stage include recognizing and rewarding team efforts, tying up any loose ends or remaining tasks, and evaluating the team’s efforts.

If the stakeholders are not convinced regarding the shortlisted idea, try the Replicate, Re-Purpose, and Upgrade approach. Create a comparison chart that lists all the shortlisted problems and solutions. Circulate the findings across the organizational structure to develop a viable problem set. If a problem has been identified, it’s time to look for possible solutions. For every user problem, there ought to be potential New Product Development opportunities. In our opinion, EmpMonitor is the most outstanding option available right now if you want to use an employee management system for your team.

What are the stages of team development?

Almost all teams lack one or more of these criteria at some point in their tenure. Team development strives to meet these criteria with ongoing reflection and growth. Like any form of development, it takes time and dedication to be effective. In other words, a team doesn’t develop from start to finish overnight. Regardless of the tools used for team development, the process must be maintained through long-term awareness.

  • And the lack of shared purposes undermines the very nature of group effort.
  • The 5 stages in team formation are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
  • By sharing what everyone values about each other, you can build self-confidence and team bonds that can help the group move from Norming to Performing effectively.
  • Members start to feel part of a team and can take pleasure from the increased group cohesion.

Not only are you proud of the team development they’ve exemplified, but you’re also proud of their individual capacity to stay in integrity with the quality of their work. Draw a simple four-stage diagram and ask each person to place a dot or sticky note next to the stage they think the team is at. While those people are still available when we need them, we usually don’t. Most teams today work according to the principles of the agile movement.

Using the Stages of Team Development

So, sit back and let’s dive into the globally accepted five stages of team development. As teams make substantive progress toward goals, it is important to acknowledge milestones and celebrate success. Team members also need to continue to expand their knowledge and skills, enhancing projects and creating new development opportunities.

While not part of Tuckman’s original model, it is important for any team to pay attention to the end or termination process. Now that remote work is gaining traction, webinars are an even more effective way to reach a target audience. Talk about the product, describe its features, and witness a positive impact on the bottom line. When HubSpot, a marketer’s product, was launched, it was not much of a success.

Scenario: You’re leading your team through the performing stage

The team members will therefore resolve their differences and members will be able to participate with one another more comfortably. The ideal is that they will not feel that they are being judged, and will therefore share their opinions and views. The forming stage of team development is the first step in team bonding. In this initial stage, group members gather and learn more about each other.

As a result of the ongoing pandemic, economic worries and restrictions on remote labor teamwork have weakened. But before we get started, let’s take a quick look at what team development stands for. Once, you are able to guide the team to complete the performing stage successfully, then your team is set for the final stage of team development. Even the most talented individuals generally need to work in teams to produce exceptional results. Teams take time to develop, moving through stages of team development to reach optimal output.

How to Help Your Team Progress Through the Stages of Group Development?

Alasdair A. K. White together with his colleague, John Fairhurst, examined Tuckman’s development sequence when developing the White-Fairhurst TPR model. They simplify the sequence and group the forming-storming-norming stages stages of team development together as the “transforming” phase, which they equate with the initial performance level. This is then followed by a “performing” phase that leads to a new performance level which they call the “reforming” phase.