Building a high-performing team isn’t as simple as putting a group of people together and expecting instant collaboration. Differences in work styles, perspectives, and communication approaches can create friction, slowing progress before a team truly “clicks.” This is where understanding group development stages becomes critical.
Every team goes through five key stages of development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Each stage plays a role in shaping team dynamics and building overall effectiveness. Whether you’re a team leader, HR manager, or business owner, recognizing these team development phases helps you guide your team from initial group formation to peak performance.
By mastering the five stages of group development, you can proactively address challenges, strengthen collaboration, and unlock greater productivity. Let’s explore these phases and why they are essential for building strong, results-driven teams.
What is group development?
Group development is a systematic process that nurtures teams from initial group formation into a high-functioning unit. First introduced by Bruce Tuckman in 1965, the concept highlights that strong teams don’t form by chance—they require a strategic approach. His framework outlines the stages of team development, providing a roadmap for leaders to navigate evolving team dynamics and foster long-term collaboration.
As a leader, recognizing these team development phases allows you to anticipate challenges, support team growth, and prevent breakdowns caused by miscommunication, conflict, or inefficiencies. Without this understanding, teams may struggle to sync, leading to stalled projects and missed objectives.
Now, let’s explore the five stages of group development and how they impact team success.
The 5 stages of group development
According to Bruce Tuckman, every team progresses through five group development stages as they evolve from a collection of individuals into a high-performing unit. Understanding these team development phases helps leaders and HR managers guide their teams through challenges and optimize team dynamics for success. Let’s break down each stage and what it takes to move forward.
Stage 1: Forming
Imagine the first day of your newly assembled project team. Everyone is polite yet reserved, unsure of how they fit into the bigger picture. This is the group formation stage, where excitement meets uncertainty. Team members are learning about their roles, responsibilities, and how they’ll collaborate. At this stage, immediate productivity isn’t realistic—people are still settling in. They often struggle with unclear roles, lack of direction, and hesitation in communication as members are still finding their footing.
For leaders, this phase is about setting clear expectations and establishing a foundation for effective teamwork. Defining objectives through the OKR framework and implementing a continuous feedback loop—using apps like UpRaise for Employee Success—can help eliminate early confusion and prevent miscommunication.
Stage 2: Storming
As the team starts working together, differences in opinions emerge. Members may clash over deadlines, execution methods, or leadership styles. This phase often brings power struggles, frustration, and potential conflicts—making it one of the most challenging stages of team development.
At this stage, leaders must foster team dynamics that encourage open dialogue and resilience. The key is to promote constructive feedback, facilitate conflict resolution, and ensure that every team member feels heard. Healthy discussions will keep the team aligned toward shared goals while minimizing friction.
Stage 3: Norming
Here’s where things start falling into place. What was once a group struggling with differences is now a team moving toward alignment. Established norms bring clarity, collaboration strengthens, and trust grows. Team members begin to self-organize, seek help when needed, and provide feedback willingly. Productivity and morale improve significantly.
A leader’s role in this team development phase is to reinforce positive behaviors, encourage open communication, and ensure that team cohesion remains strong. Recognizing contributions and celebrating small wins can help sustain this momentum.
Stage 4: Performing
This is the peak of team dynamics—where the team operates at full capacity with minimal friction. At this stage, members are highly engaged, self-sufficient, and results-driven. They understand their roles, follow streamlined processes, and focus on shared goals, leading to high efficiency and output.
However, even in this high-performance phase, leadership remains crucial. Managers should continue removing roadblocks, providing strategic guidance, and ensuring sustained motivation to keep the team thriving.
Stage 5: Adjourning
Every project eventually comes to an end, and this final phase marks the transition. The team reflects on their journey—from initial group formation to becoming a well-synced, results-driven unit. Whether it’s wrapping up after a product launch or completing a major initiative, this phase can feel bittersweet.
Great leaders use this time to celebrate achievements, acknowledge contributions, and facilitate smooth transitions to new projects or roles. Conducting a retrospective on lessons learned can also help future teams move through the stages of team development more effectively.
Mastering these team development phases equips leaders with the tools to turn individual contributors into high-impact collaborators. Next, let’s explore how understanding these stages can help you build stronger, more adaptable teams that consistently deliver results.
Why understanding group development stages is crucial
For HR managers, project leaders, and organizations, understanding the stages of team development can mean the difference between a thriving, high-performing team and one that struggles with inefficiencies and conflict. By applying Tuckman’s stages of group development, leaders can proactively manage team dynamics, foster collaboration, and accelerate growth. Here’s how recognizing these team development phases benefits organizations:
1. Helps teams settle in quickly
A strong start determines how smoothly a team transitions into full productivity. By recognizing the group formation phase, leaders can design structured onboarding processes that ease new members into their roles. For example, during the forming stage, a detailed onboarding checklist can provide clarity on responsibilities, helping teams become functional in days instead of weeks.
2. Facilitates constructive conflict resolution
Conflict is inevitable in any team, especially during the storming stage. However, when leaders anticipate disagreements, they can prevent them from escalating. Imagine two developers clashing over conflicting coding approaches—acknowledging the stages of team development allows leaders to guide them toward collaborative problem-solving rather than letting conflicts derail progress. When handled well, these moments strengthen team dynamics and build resilience.
3. Strengthens a collaborative team culture
During the norming phase, team members start syncing with each other. Miscommunications decrease, and collaboration becomes more fluid. Leaders who recognize this stage can reinforce positive behaviors such as shared accountability and open communication. Encouraging knowledge-sharing and creating a psychologically safe environment fosters long-term team cohesion.
4. Boosts productivity and goal achievement
The performing stage is when teams hit peak productivity—delivering results efficiently with minimal supervision. By guiding teams through earlier phases with clear direction and support, leaders can accelerate their transition to this high-functioning phase. This translates to faster project delivery, improved work quality, and fewer bottlenecks.
5. Enhances employee satisfaction and retention
Teams that feel supported through all team development phases tend to have higher engagement and job satisfaction. Employees who feel heard during storming, recognized during performing, and celebrated during adjourning are more likely to stay committed to the organization. Prioritizing group development helps reduce turnover and fosters a motivated workforce.
6. Reduces repetitive realignment efforts
Without a clear understanding of team development phases, leaders risk resetting teams unnecessarily—leading to frustration and lost productivity. Recognizing where a team stands on the group development curve allows for smoother transitions between phases, reducing the need for constant restructuring and saving valuable time and resources.
7. Strengthens leadership effectiveness
Leaders who tailor their management approach to match a team’s development stage build greater trust and influence. Whether it’s providing structure in forming, resolving tensions in storming, or stepping back to empower in performing, adaptability in leadership is crucial. Mastering these stages enables leaders to guide teams with confidence.
8. Supports long-term organizational success
Beyond individual teams, embedding these group development stages into company-wide practices promotes cross-departmental collaboration and reduces organizational silos. A well-structured approach to team dynamics strengthens business agility and ensures that different teams can align effectively to drive long-term success.
Optimizing team development with the right tools
Every strong team goes through five key stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
In the forming stage, team members are still figuring each other out. Roles may be unclear, communication feels tentative, and there’s often hesitation around decision-making. As you move into the storming phase, tensions surface. People bring different working styles and opinions to the table—which can easily lead to conflict without the right guidance. This is when your leadership matters most. Encouraging open conversations and creating clarity can help your team move forward.
Let’s say you’re setting expectations early on or nudging the team to give each other constructive feedback, having a system in place makes all the difference. That’s where you need UpRaise. Built right into Jira, it streamlines everything from setting OKRs to tracking progress and improving team engagement—without adding another tool to manage.
Once your team works through those initial hurdles, they reach the norming stage. Collaboration improves, processes become clearer, and trust starts to build. This paves the way for the performing stage, when your team runs efficiently, stays focused, and doesn’t need constant oversight to deliver results.
Eventually comes the adjourning stage. This is when teams wrap up, reflect on their work, celebrate achievements, and prepare for what’s next.
Each stage brings its own set of challenges and opportunities. With the right tools and practices in place, you can help your team move through them with confidence.
FAQs
1. How do leadership styles impact group development?
Leadership styles shape how teams progress through each development stage. A supportive and adaptive leader helps resolve conflicts faster during storming and fosters collaboration in norming and performing stages, accelerating team growth and improving outcomes.
2. What is the most challenging stage in group development?
The storming stage is often the toughest. Team members may clash over ideas, roles, or work styles. Without proper guidance, teams can get stuck here. However, with good leadership and clear communication, teams can move forward to build trust and alignment.
3. How does group development affect team productivity?
Teams that successfully transit through all five group development stages come out to be more productive than before. By going through a series of resistance-building stages, members develop trust in each other and understand their roles.
