In the model of group development, tuckman identifies _____ as the final stage in group development.

Business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs are often viewed as team leaders. If something fails, you may blame yourself. If it succeeds, you'll receive the praise.

Índice Show

1. Set a clear purpose and mission and revisit it throughout the process.
2. Set ground rules and make sure they are followed.
3. Let other members act as leaders or facilitators.
4. Don't try to avoid conflict. It is normal and can be healthy.
5. Remind group members to listen.
6. End each meeting with insightful and constructive feedback that improves the group process.
7. To progress, everyone must contribute and participate.
Stage 1: Forming
Stage 2: Storming
Stage 3: Norming
Stage 4: Performing
Tuckman's Model of Team Development Diagram
Stage 5: Adjourning
Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership®
Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum

Whether you are leading your entire company or a smaller project group, you have a huge influence on team development and performance. It's almost like being Captain America to The Avengers or Steve Jobs to Apple. Of course, those are some big shoes to fill.

You don't have to gain superpowers from a serum or create one of the most iconic brands of your generation to be a great leader.

Guide your team through each stage of the process with the following tips:

1. Set a clear purpose and mission and revisit it throughout the process.

Why does your team or company exist? What values matter to you? What problem will you solve? Why do you need to solve it?

All these questions should be answered with a clear purpose and mission statement. It is the framework that will help you make decisions. It gives you direction. Without it, you'll go nowhere.

People get so lost in a specific task that they forget why they are doing it in the first place. It is easy to lose sight of the "big picture". Teams need a clear purpose and mission and should be reminded of them often.

2. Set ground rules and make sure they are followed.

Rules may not sound fun, but they clear up confusion. Without them, no one will know what is considered acceptable behavior. Everyone will have their own "style" of doing things. Groups without rules are disjointed, prone to conflict and inefficient.

One of the first tasks that teams should do is establish ground rules. These can cover how to interact in the group to how to complete tasks efficiently. Some examples are:

Don't interrupt another member when they are speaking.
Turn off your phone during working meetings.
Track your time transparently with Toggl Track.
Create a weekly work plan with tasks and share it with the team.

Remember that rules are created to help your team stay focused on what matters most─performance.

3. Let other members act as leaders or facilitators.

Every team should have a facilitator─a person who leads and guides meetings and discussions. Someone who drives the group towards a common goal.

As a company founder or manager, you may be the designated team leader. But, that doesn't mean you should always be the one leading.

Leading a team is tiring. Try to do it all on your own and you'll burn out fast.

Sometimes, there may even be another member of the group more qualified to lead a discussion than you. If you are discussing the security of a mobile app you are building, the best facilitator could be the cyber security expert on your team?

High-functioning teams work so well together that facilitator roles can rotate without impacting their performance.

4. Don't try to avoid conflict. It is normal and can be healthy.

If everyone in your group thinks and acts the same, then why do you have a group? The benefit of working in a team is that you have access to diverse experiences, skills, and opinions that aren't possible alone.

When members disagree about something, listen to each side. But, don't take one. Search for common ground. For example, each person wants to reach the end goal.

When conflicts are resolved, it can improve existing processes and bond members together.

5. Remind group members to listen.

Each person in your group holds some value, otherwise they wouldn't be there, right? Remind your team to listen to each person's insight.

Early on, create an environment that is open and non-judgmental. Hold brainstorming sessions. Write down every idea that is offered, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. Some of the greatest entrepreneurs and inventors have had failed companies and ill-conceived ideas.

For every brilliant idea, there are 100 terrible ones. Encouraging your team to share their ideas and opinions is the key to finding the "big ideas".

6. End each meeting with insightful and constructive feedback that improves the group process.

When you lead a group, part of your responsibility is to observe. Study how the team functions as a unit and individually.

What are they doing well? What do they need to improve? Give individual feedback in one-on-one meetings. But, you can point out areas of improvement or strengths to the group as a whole, without pointing fingers.

Don't scold teams for their mistakes and failures, without showing them what went wrong. Don't point out problems without offering solutions and advice.

It is important to give criticism in a way that empowers them to do better.

Nobody likes a Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer either. Tell teams what they are doing right as well as what they need to improve.

As a leader, don't think that you are flawless though. Give and ask for feedback from your team. That could mean sending out a weekly or monthly anonymous survey.

2. Close your speech in a memorable way: compliment your audience, deliver a punchline or share a shocking information or quote that suggests urgency.

7. To progress, everyone must contribute and participate.

The point of having a team is to work together. Each person plays a part and has something to contribute. When one person fails to complete a task, the rest of the group suffers.

It is important to instill this sense of responsibility in a group. But, you may still need to remind and motivate members to be productive.

This is another area where time tracking can help. With Toggl Track, team members can track the work that they do. This is especially useful if you have some people that are working remotely.

Even if your group has two or three leaders, you can't always monitor your team. You can't look over their shoulders and make sure that everyone is doing their work. Ideally, your team is made up of reliable people that know and fulfill their responsibilities.

There are other advantages to tracking your time with an app though. When you know how long a process takes, you can identify areas that could be made more efficient. Then, develop more productive habits. It can also help you predict how much additional time your group might need to complete the current project.

If powerful superhero and entrepreneur teams have taught us anything, it is that working with others can increase your strength and success. Some projects you just can't tackle alone.

Building a team isn't easy. It is a process. Knowing each stage of development can help you create all-star teams that deliver amazing results.

Back to Managing Multiple Teams

Dr Bruce Tuckman published his 'Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing' model in 1965. He later added a fifth stage, Adjourning, in the 1970s.

The 'Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing' theory is an elegant and helpful explanation of team development and behaviour. Similarities can be seen with other models, such as Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum and especially with Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership® model, developed about the same time. Both of these theories and how they overlap with Tuckman's model will be briefly outlined below.

Why is Tuckman's Model useful?

Tuckman's model explains that as the team develops maturity and ability, relationships establish, and the leader changes leadership style. Beginning with a directing style, moving through coaching, then participating and finishing with delegation, at which point they are almost detached. At this point, the team may produce a successor leader and the previous leader can move on to develop a new team.

This simple overview of the Tuckman 'Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing' model offers a simple way to understand how groups develop. Tuckman's model is especially helpful in training people on group work, thus enabling groups to fulfil their full potential.

Related Resources and Theories

This progression of team behaviour and leadership style can be seen clearly in the Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum - the authority and freedom extended by the leader to the team increases while the control of the leader reduces. In Tuckman's 'Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing' model, Hersey's and Blanchard's Situational Leadership® model and in Tannenbaum and Schmidt's Continuum, we see the same effect, represented in three ways.
See also Leadership tips and Leadership theories, both of which relate strongly to understanding and managing groups.
The Conscious Competence Learning Model, together with Kolb's Learning Cycle Theory, and the Johari Window Model all provide helpful additional ways to learn and to teach others about Tuckman's ideas and their applications.

The progression is:

Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing

Below the features of each phase will be outlined in detail.

Stage 1: Forming

This stage is classified by:

High dependence on the leader for guidance and direction.
Little agreement on team objectives other than those received from the leader.
Individual roles and responsibilities are unclear.
The leader must be prepared to answer lots of questions about the team's purpose, objectives and external relationships. Processes are often ignored.
Members test the tolerance of the system and leader.
The leader directs (similar to Situational Leadership® 'Telling' mode).

Stage 2: Storming

This stage is classified by:

A lack of agreement when it comes to making group decisions. Team members attempt to establish themselves and their position in relation to other team members and the leader, who might receive challenges from team members.
Clarity of the team's purpose increases but many uncertainties persist.
Cliques and factions form. This may lead to power struggles. The team needs to focus on its goals to avoid becoming distracted by relationships and emotional issues.
Compromises may be required to enable progress.
The leader coaches (similar to Situational Leadership® 'Selling' mode).

Stage 3: Norming

This stage is classified by:

Agreement and consensus largely forms among the team, who respond well to facilitation by the leader.
Roles and responsibilities are clear and accepted.
Big decisions are made by group agreement. Smaller decisions may be delegated to individuals or small teams within the group.
Commitment and unity are strong. The team may engage in fun and social activities.
The team discusses and develops its processes and working style.
There is general respect for the leader and leadership responsibilities are now shared amongst the team.
The leader facilitates and enables (similar to the Situational Leadership® 'Participating' mode).

Stage 4: Performing

This stage is classified by:

The team's increased strategic awareness. It is now clear why the team is doing what it is doing.
The shared vision of the team. It is now independent and does not need interference or participation from the leader.
A focus on over-achieving goals and the team makes most of the decisions against criteria agreed with the leader. The team has a high degree of autonomy.
Disagreements. However, they are now resolved within the team positively, and necessary changes to processes and structure are made by the team.
The team can work towards achieving the goal and attend to relationship, style and process issues along the way.
Team members look after each other.
The team requires delegated tasks and projects from the leader.
The team does not needing to be instructed or assisted. Team members might ask for assistance from the leader with personal and interpersonal development.
The leader delegating and overseeing (similar to the Situational Leadership® 'Delegating' mode).

Tuckman's Model of Team Development Diagram

This is a diagram of Tuckman's four stages of team development. Below is an outline of the fifth stage, which Tuckman only added later after refining his theory.

Stage 5: Adjourning

Bruce Tuckman refined his theory in 1975 and added a fifth stage to the 'Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing' model: Adjourning. This is also referred to as Deforming and Mourning.

Adjourning is arguably more of an adjunct to the original four-stage model rather than an extension - it views the group from a perspective beyond the purpose of the first four stages.

The Adjourning phase is certainly very relevant to the people in the group and their well-being, but not to the main task of managing and developing a team, which is more central to the original four stages.

Tuckman's fifth stage, Adjourning, is the break-up of the group, once the task is completed successfully and its purpose fulfilled.

From an organisational perspective, recognition of and sensitivity to people's vulnerabilities in Tuckman's fifth stage is helpful. This is specifically if members of the group have been closely bonded and feel a sense of insecurity or threat from this change.
Feelings of insecurity would be natural for people with high 'steadiness' attributes (as regards the 'four temperaments' or DISC model) and with strong routine and empathy style (as regards the Benziger thinking styles model, right and left basal brain dominance).

Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership®

The classic Situational Leadership® model of management and leadership style also illustrates the ideal development of a team from immaturity (stage 1) through to maturity (stage 4).

According to this model, the leadership style progressively develops from relatively detached task-directing (1), through the more managerially-involved stages of explanation (2) and participation (3), to the final stage of relatively detached delegation (4), at which time ideally the team is largely self-managing, and contains at least one potential management/leadership successor.

The aim of the leader or manager is, therefore, to develop the team through the four stages, and then to progress on to another role.

The model also illustrates four main leadership and management styles, which a good leader can switch between, depending on the situation (i.e., the team's maturity relating to a particular task, project or challenge).

Background and Resources

Situational Leadership® is a trademark of the Center for Leadership Studies, which represents the interests and products of Dr Paul Hersey. Ken Blanchard (who incidentally wrote 'The One Minute Manager') went on to develop the Situational Leadership® system into what he called Situational Leadership II®, and which now covers a range of products marketed by his organization, The Ken Blanchard Companies.
Use of material relating to Situational Leadership® and/or Situational Leadership II® requires licence and agreement from the respective companies.
For more detail on Leadership theories.

Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum

The Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum also correlates or overlaps with the models above in the sense that management style tends to offer more freedom as the group matures.

The diagonal line loosely equates to the dotted line on the other two models. As the team matures and becomes more self-sufficient and self-directing, so the manager's style should react accordingly, ideally becoming more detached, more delegating, encouraging and enabling the group to run itself, and for a successor to emerge.