Summary of "The Five Stages of Team Development" by Tuckman

Summary: "The Five Stages of Project Team Development"

Introduction

In 1965 Bruce Wayne Tuckman defined 4 stages of project team development – Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing – based on his research on team dynamics. In 1977 he added a fith stage called Adjourning. The five stages of team development are inevitable for every team in order to reach a higher performance and quality. So the team leader has to be aware of those indicators and has to be able to define countermeasures to ensure the team keeps performing well.

Stage 1: Forming

In the first meeting the team leader introduces the team members to each other and explains the objectives and goals of the project. Therefore a common sense of working together has to be established. Hence the norms have to be committed to by every team member.

Stage 2: Storming

This is a very critical stage within the team development because the team has to start working together and has different opinions about what and how to do things. The team leader has to be the facilitator and has to balance the influences of the team members. To hand over the team to the norming stage the team leader has to pull himself back to open the development space for the team. This allows the team to work together. So the transition from the Forming stage to the following Norming stage is characterized by an improvement of the team performance.

Stage 3: Norming

In the Norming stage a team begins to work effectively. Different team members treat each other with respect and agree on rules for working together. Now they can make significant progress because the team leader acts as a coach and delegates responsibilities. As a result the team is able to solve problems.

Stage 4: Performing

Team performance is reaching a very high level because the team is highly motivated and the members have become interdependent. Since the team leader is not involved in decision making, The decision making is very quickly and effective....