Forming Storming Norming Performing

Whenever a team changes it’s new team:

• If someone leaves, it’s a new team.
• If someone joins, it’s a new team.
• If someone rejoins, it’s new team.

Excellent managers understand the process of team building, accept that a new team means there will be some conflict and a drop in performance and manage the team to shorten the time between the new team formation and high performance.

The Forming – Storming – Norming – 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.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming-storming-norming-performing accessed January 2009

Forming

Someone leaves, someone joins – team productivity will drop below the previous level.

Storming

 Team members will have to adapt to each other, find out who is good at what and decide how they will interact. Team productivity will drop as conflicts emerge and suspicion may grow.

Norming

The team works out who will be taking on which roles, who is good at what and how they will work together. Team performance stops dropping and starts to improve.

Performing

The team now know each other and are performing as expected.

Managers can intervene to shorten the time between forming and performing - often by organising a team building event, especially if the team have to work together to achieve something.

Managers may also need to intervene to move a team along to the next stage. For more information – just contact me and ask.