Forming, storming, norming, performing (v3)

FORMING, STORMING,
NORMING, PERFORMING,
AND ADJOURNING
1
Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people
who do the right thing. – Warren Bennis, Ph.D. "On Becoming a Leader"
Glen B. Alleman, 2003

Introduction
¨ Forming – team members are introduced to each other,
each positioning from specialist Point of View
¨ Storming – the team transitions from “as is” to “to be” y
articulating shared outcome
¨ Norming – the team reaches consensus on the “to be”
process and the a shared outcome
¨ Performing – the team has settled its relationships and
expectations of each other with mutual accountability
¨ Adjourning – the team shares the improved processes with
others
2

Staged Development of Teams
¨ The Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing stages are seemingly obvious,
but are in fact difficult.
¤ Participants want to move to the Performing stage without passing through the
first three stages.
¤ The Forming stage is relatively easy.
¤ The Storming stage is difficult and many times the cause of the team’s failure.
¤ Performing seems easy once the storming process is complete.
¨ The “Real” problem is how to identify when a stage is complete:
¤ The team members agree that the stage is complete?
¤ The team coach agrees the stage is complete?
¤ The team simply moves on to the next stage?
¨ The definition of the “exit criteria” between stages needs to be worked out
prior to the team’s reaching the end of the stage.
¤ This again, seems obvious but is also very difficult.
3

Forming
4
¨ The “polite” stage in which the team starts to form.
¨ Everyone is trying to figure out what the team
concept is, what their role is, how they are going to
hang on to their power base.
¨ Initial “silent” leaders may take the reins.
¨ The team is usually positive – for the most part – for
the initial meetings.
¨ No one has offended anyone at this point yet!

Forming
¨ Forming includes feelings and behaviors of:
¤ Excitement, anticipation, and optimism.
¤ Pride in being chosen for the project.
¤ A tentative attachment to the team Suspicion and anxiety about the job.
¤ Defining the tasks and how they will be accomplished.
¤ Determining acceptable group behavior.
¤ Deciding what information needs to be gathered.
¤ Abstract discussions of the concepts and issues, and for some members,
impatience with these discussions. There will be difficulty in identifying
some of the relevant problems.
¨ Because there is so much going on to distract members'
attention in the beginning, the team accomplishes little, if
anything, that concerns it's project goals. This is perfectly
normal.
¨ Exit Criteria?
5

Storming
¨ The honeymoon is over.
¨ The silent leaders may be clashing for control of the
group.
¤ They must become Team Members and give up their
previous Command and Control Leadership paradigm
¨ People disagree and may blame the team concept,
saying it doesn’t work.
¨ Management needs to do a lot of coaching to get
people to work past their differences, may take
separate 1-on-1’s with people.
¨ Selecting high maturity members is a critical success
factor for Teaming.
6

Storming
¨ Storming includes feelings and behaviors of:
¤ Resisting the tasks mutually agreed upon by the team.
¤ Resisting quality improvement approaches suggested by other members.
¤ Sharp fluctuations in attitude about the team and the project's chance of success.
¤ Arguing among members even when they agree on the real issues.
¤ Defensiveness, competition, and choosing sides.
¤ Questioning the wisdom of those who selected this project and appointed the
other members of the team.
¤ Establishing unrealistic goals. Disunity, increased tension, and jealousy.
¨ The above pressures mean that team members have little energy to spend
on progressing towards the team's goal.
¨ But they are beginning to understand one another. This phase sometimes
takes 3 or 4 meetings before arriving at the Norming phase.
7

Norming
¨ The team starting to work well together, and has turned around
from the “storming” phase.
¨ They may start to “brag up” the team concept to others who
aren’t in the team and will be very positive about their role/
team group.
¨ Often, the team will bounce back and forth between
“storming” and “norming” when issues crop up.
¨ Regressions will become fewer and fewer and the team will
bounce back to “norming” in a quicker manner as the team
“matures.”
¨ The natural leaders at this stage may not be the ones who
were visible in stages 1 & 2. Those people may no longer have
the “unofficial lead roles” within the team.
¨ This team still takes management direction, but not as much as
storming.
8

Norming
¨ Norming includes feelings and behaviors of:
¤ An ability to express criticism openly and constructively.
¤ Acceptance of membership in the team.
¤ An attempt to achieve harmony by avoiding conflict.
¤ More friendliness, confiding in each other, and sharing of
personal problems.
¤ A sense of team cohesion, spirit, and goals.
¤ Establishing and maintaining team ground rules and
boundaries.
¨ As team members begin to work out their differences,
they now have more time and energy to spend on their
assigned outcomes.
9

Performing
¨ This is the level where the team becomes a high–
performance team.
¨ They can be given new projects and tasks and accomplish
them successfully, and very seldom fall back into the
“storming” phase.
¨ At this level, the team is taking on new work on their own,
and selling it to other teams.
¨ At this level, the team can usually take on a new member
or two with little trouble as far as regressing goes.
¨ They are a complete self-managing team and require
little, if any, external direction.
¨ In many organizations, this can take 6 months or longer to
reach this state this stage.
¨ We have 1 week, so very mature individuals are our
starting point.
10

Performing
¨ Performing includes feelings and behaviors of:
¤ Members have insights into personal and group processes,
and better understanding of each other's strengths and
weakness, and how those contribute to the success of the
team’s outcomes
¤ Constructive self–change with mutual support.
¤ Ability to prevent or work through group problems.
¤ Close attachment to the team.
¨ The team is now an effective, cohesive unit. You can tell
when your team has reached this stage because you
start getting a lot of work done.
11

Adjourning
¨ The team briefs and shares the improved process
during this phase.
¨ When the team finally completes that last briefing,
there is always a bittersweet sense of
accomplishment coupled with the reluctance to say
good–bye.
¨ Many relationships formed within these teams
continue long after the team disbands.
12

Teams versus Work Groups
Roles and Responsibilities
¨ Individuals establish a set
of behaviors called roles.
¨ These roles set the
expectations governing the
relationships between the
group members.
¨ The search for role
definition serves as a
source of confusion and
conflict.
¨ Roles become the reason
for participating
¨ Teams have a shared
understanding of how to
perform their role.
¨ For example:
¤ Time keeper
¤ Score keeper
¤ Leader
¤ Facilitator
¨ These roles are fluid and
decided by the team
13
Work Group Teams

¨ Groups do not have a
cohesive identity.
¨ It is difficult to establish a
sense of cohesion that
characterizes a team.
Identity
¨ Teams have an identity.
¨ A team has a clear
understanding about what
constitutes the team’s
“work” and why it is
important.
¨ They can describe a picture
of what the team needs to
achieve, and the norms and
values that will guide them.
14
Work Group Teams

Cohesion
¨ Groups lack a source of
cohesion.
¨ Being a member of a
group still leaves the person
“alone” and an individual.
¨ Teams have an esprit that
shows a sense of bonding
and camaraderie.
¨ Esprit is the spirit, soul, and
state of mind of the team.
¨ It is the overall
consciousness of the team
that a person identifies with
and feels a part of.
¨ Individuals begin using
“we” more than “me” or “I.”
15
Work Group Teams

Facilitating
¨ Groups tend to get
bogged down with
trivial issues.
¨ Hierarchy interferes
with accomplishing the
mission of the team
¨ Teams use facilitators
to keep the team on
the right path.
16
Work Group Teams

Communication Communication
¨ The communications with a
group tend to be centered
on individuals.
¨ Individual positions are
more important than a
“team” opinion.
¨ Defending ones opinion
becomes an end unto itself.
¨ The team is committed to
open communication.
¨ Team members feel they
can state their opinions,
thoughts, and feelings
without fear.
¨ Differences of opinion are
valued and methods of
managing conflict are
understood.
¨ Through honest and caring
feedback, members are
aware of their strengths
and weaknesses as team
members.
17
Work Group Teams

Flexibility Flexibility
¨ Most groups are rigid,
hierarchy – command and
control.
¨ This rigidity has several
causes:
¤ Defense of individual
positions
¤ Individual reward
systems
¨ The strength(s) of each
individual is difficult to
capitalize on since someone
has to give up a role to
allow another to assume
that role.
¨ Teams, provide flexibility
and perform different task
and maintenance functions
as needed, when needed,
and with mutual agreement.
¨ The responsibility for team
development and
leadership is shared.
¨ The strengths of each
member are identified and
used.
¨ There is not role of Team
Lead in the permanent
sense of the term
18
Work Group Teams

Sources
19
¨ John Kotter, Harvard Business School is one source
everyone should consult.
¨ Jon Katzenbach, The Wisdom of Teams
¨ Bruce Tuckman’s group dynamics model was first
developed the 4 stages, then a 5th stage of the
model used here

Forming, storming, norming, performing (v3)

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (13)

Similar to Forming, storming, norming, performing (v3) (20)

More from Glen Alleman (20)

Forming, storming, norming, performing (v3)