DTU ProjectLab - User contributions [en-gb]

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-29T14:21:09Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]] [[Category:Project Management]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965 <ref>[http://hrweb.mit.edu/learning-development/learning-topics/teams/articles/stages-development''Using the Stages of Team Development''], Judith Stein, HR web at MIT</ref>. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''<ref>[http://openvce.net/sites/default/files/Tuckman1965DevelopmentalSequence.pdf ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''], Bruce W. Tuckman, 1965</ref>.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|center|'''Four Stages of Team Development''' <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more devoted to seek the team’s objectives and when their real competences flourish. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

After some years of research, Tuckman and Mary Ann Jensen published their findings in the journal ''Group & Organization Studies'', in 1977 <ref name="Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited">[http://www.freewebs.com/group-management/BruceTuckman%281%29.pdf''Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited''], Bruce W. Tuckman, Mary Ann C. Jensen</ref>. They developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning” <ref>[http://es.scribd.com/doc/216692139/Mc-Team-Development ''Four (Five) Stages of Team Development – Bruce Tuckman''], MC – Team Development</ref>.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman developed this theoretical framework based on some studies and previous literature. He stated that this was “a conceptual statement suggested by the data presented and subject to further test” <ref name="Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited" />. He observed that there were some limitations, because it is difficult to generalise. Thus, he stated that some empirical tests on real and laboratory groups were needed to confirm his hypothesis.

In 1971, Runkel et al. studied three groups of college students, between fifteen and twenty members. They observed that many behaviours described by Tuckman appeared during the process. This can be applied also for current teams, in the sense that Tuckman’s developmental sequence shows up during the life of the project.

Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences. Although we could think that groups should stay a larger period of time in the Performing stage, it is true that many groups spend the similar time in each stage.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be fully effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalised. In addition, we shouldn’t forget that Adjourning is a very important stage on the team’s life. It is the best way to make sure that the project is perfectly completed.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-29T12:49:53Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]] [[Category:Project Management]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965 <ref>[http://hrweb.mit.edu/learning-development/learning-topics/teams/articles/stages-development''Using the Stages of Team Development''], Judith Stein, HR web at MIT</ref>. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''<ref>[http://openvce.net/sites/default/files/Tuckman1965DevelopmentalSequence.pdf ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''], Bruce W. Tuckman, 1965</ref>.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|center|'''Four Stages of Team Development''' <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

After some years of research, Tuckman and Mary Ann Jensen published their findings in the journal ''Group & Organization Studies'', in 1977 <ref>[http://www.freewebs.com/group-management/BruceTuckman%281%29.pdf''Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited''], Bruce W. Tuckman, Mary Ann C. Jensen</ref>. They developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning” <ref>[http://es.scribd.com/doc/216692139/Mc-Team-Development ''Four (Five) Stages of Team Development – Bruce Tuckman''], MC – Team Development</ref>.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-29T12:41:18Z

B wiki: /* Further Research */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]] [[Category:Project Management]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965 <ref>[http://www.freewebs.com/group-management/BruceTuckman%281%29.pdf''Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited''], Bruce W. Tuckman, Mary Ann C. Jensen</ref>. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''<ref>[http://openvce.net/sites/default/files/Tuckman1965DevelopmentalSequence.pdf ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''], Bruce W. Tuckman, 1965</ref>.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|center|'''Four Stages of Team Development''' <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

After some years of research, Tuckman and Mary Ann Jensen published their findings in the journal ''Group & Organization Studies'', in 1977 <ref></ref>. They developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-29T12:31:26Z

B wiki: /* Tuckman's Model */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]] [[Category:Project Management]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965 <ref>[http://www.freewebs.com/group-management/BruceTuckman%281%29.pdf''Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited''], Bruce W. Tuckman, Mary Ann C. Jensen</ref>. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''<ref>[http://openvce.net/sites/default/files/Tuckman1965DevelopmentalSequence.pdf ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''], Bruce W. Tuckman, 1965</ref>.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|center|'''Four Stages of Team Development''' <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen <ref>[http://es.scribd.com/doc/216692139/Mc-Team-Development''Four (Five) Stages of Team Development – Bruce Tuckman''], MC – Team Development</ref>, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-29T12:28:44Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]] [[Category:Project Management]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965 <ref>[http://www.freewebs.com/group-management/BruceTuckman%281%29.pdf''Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited''], Bruce W. Tuckman, Mary Ann C. Jensen</ref>. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''<ref>[http://openvce.net/sites/default/files/Tuckman1965DevelopmentalSequence.pdf ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''], Bruce W. Tuckman</ref>.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|center|'''Four Stages of Team Development''' <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen <ref>[http://es.scribd.com/doc/216692139/Mc-Team-Development''Four (Five) Stages of Team Development – Bruce Tuckman''], MC – Team Development</ref>, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-29T11:52:32Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]] [[Category:Project Management]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965 <ref>''Using the Stages of Team Development'', Judith Stein, HR web at MIT</ref>. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|center|'''Four Stages of Team Development''' <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen <ref>''Four (Five) Stages of Team Development – Bruce Tuckman'', MC – Team Development</ref>, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T15:01:19Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]] [[Category:Project Management]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|center|'''Four Stages of Team Development''' <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:58:16Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]] [[Category:Project Management]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|left|'''Four Stages of Team Development''' <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:49:13Z

B wiki: /* REVIEW by Liclawio */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory. I had this in consideration. I couldn’t use appropriately the references until last Tuesday. I will add them
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how? I added some explanations to the conclusion.

**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote. I think like this it’s fine. In my opinion it’s summarized what I’m going to talk about later
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title. I added a title under the figure and also made it smaller
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold. Yes, it’s true. I made so many changes that I forgot at the end.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences. You are right. This way it’s clearer that it is related to Project Management
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
**''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and'' I thought it was ok, but maybe it’s quite confusing. I will change it
**''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?” Yes, that is way I was trying to say
* I would try to avoid some repetitions. I changed it and used some of these synonyms
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''” Yes, it’s wrong
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more. Yes, I did. I have to add them still

Good luck I hope you the same

Thank you very much for your help

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:48:22Z

B wiki: /* REVIEW by Liclawio */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory. I had this in consideration. I couldn’t use appropriately the references until last Tuesday. I will add them
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how? I added some explanations to the conclusion.
**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote. I think like this it’s fine. In my opinion it’s summarized what I’m going to talk about later
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title. I added a title under the figure and also made it smaller
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold. Yes, it’s true. I made so many changes that I forgot at the end.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences. You are right. This way it’s clearer that it is related to Project Management
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
**''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and'' I thought it was ok, but maybe it’s quite confusing. I will change it
**''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?” Yes, that is way I was trying to say
* I would try to avoid some repetitions. I changed it and used some of these synonyms
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''” Yes, it’s wrong
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more. Yes, I did. I have to add them still

Good luck I hope you the same

Thank you very much for your help

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:46:31Z

B wiki: /* Feedback - Lyngby: */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory.
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how?
**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote. I think like this it’s fine. In my opinion it’s summarized what I’m going to talk about later
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title. I added a title under the figure and also made it smaller
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold. Yes, it’s true. I made so many changes that I forgot at the end.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences. You are right. This way it’s clearer that it is related to Project Management
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
**''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and'' I thought it was ok, but maybe it’s quite confusing. I will change it
**''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?” Yes, that is way I was trying to say
* I would try to avoid some repetitions. I changed it and used some of these synonyms
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''” Yes, it’s wrong
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more. Yes, I did. I have to add them still

Good luck I hope you the same

Thank you very much for your help

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:43:09Z

B wiki: /* Tuckman's Model */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|left|'''Four Stages of Team Development''' <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:42:04Z

B wiki: /* Tuckman's Model */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|left|Four Stages of Team Development <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:41:32Z

B wiki: /* Tuckman's Model */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|650px|thumb|left|Four Stages of Team Development <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:40:34Z

B wiki: /* Tuckman's Model */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|thumb|left|Four Stages of Team Development <ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>]]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:09:58Z

B wiki: /* Feedback - Lyngby: */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory.
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how?
**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote. I think like this it’s fine. In my opinion it’s summarized what I’m going to talk about later
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title. I added a title under the figure and also made it smaller
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold. Yes, it’s true. I made so many changes that I forgot at the end.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences. You are right. This way it’s clearer that it is related to Project Management
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
**''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and'' I thought it was ok, but maybe it’s quite confusing. I will change it
**''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?” Yes, that is way I was trying to say
* I would try to avoid some repetitions. I changed it and used some of these synonyms
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''” Yes, it’s wrong
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more. 

Good luck I hope you the same

Thank you very much for your help

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T14:09:04Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams achieve this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams achieve the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|600px|thumb|right|'''Five Stages of Team Development''' <ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>]]

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T13:50:57Z

B wiki: /* Feedback - Lyngby: */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory.
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how?
**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote. I think like this it’s fine. In my opinion it’s summarized what I’m going to talk about later
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title. I added a title under the figure
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold. Yes, it’s true. I made so many changes that I forgot at the end.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences. You are right. This way it’s clearer that it is related to Project Management
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
**''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and'' I thought it was ok, but maybe it’s quite confusing. I will change it
**''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?” Yes, that is way I was trying to say
* I would try to avoid some repetitions. I changed it and used some of these synonyms
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''” Yes, it’s wrong
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more. 

Good luck I hope you the same

Thank you very much for your help

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T13:49:54Z

B wiki: /* Feedback - Lyngby: */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory.
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how?
**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote. 
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title. 
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold. Yes, it’s true. I made so many changes that I forgot at the end.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences. You are right. This way it’s clearer that it is related to Project Management
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
**''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and'' I thought it was ok, but maybe it’s quite confusing. I will change it
**''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?” Yes, that is way I was trying to say
* I would try to avoid some repetitions. I changed it and used some of these synonyms
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''” Yes, it’s wrong
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more. 

Good luck I hope you the same

Thank you very much for your help

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T13:45:05Z

B wiki: /* Feedback - Lyngby: */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory.
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how?
**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote. 
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title. 
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold. Yes, it’s true. I made so many changes that I forgot at the end.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences. You are right. This way it’s clearer that it is related to Project Management
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
**''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and'' I thought it was ok, but maybe it’s quite confusing. I will change it
**''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?” Yes, that is way I was trying to say
* I would try to avoid some repetitions. I changed it and used some of these synonyms
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''” Yes, it’s wrong
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more. 

Good luck I hope you the same

Thank you very much for your help

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T13:43:17Z

B wiki: /* Feedback - Lyngby: */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory.
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how?
**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote. 
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title. 
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold. Yes, it’s true. I made so many changes that I forgot at the end.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences. You are right. This way it’s clearer that it is related to Project Management
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
**''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and'' I thought it was ok, but maybe it’s quite confusing. I will change it
**''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?” Yes, that is way I was trying to say
* I would try to avoid some repetitions. I changed it and used some of these synonyms
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''” Yes, it’s wrong
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more. 

Good luck

Thank you very much for your help

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T13:40:25Z

B wiki: /* Feedback - Lyngby: */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory.
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how?
**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote. 
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title. 
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold. Yes, it’s true. I made so many changes that I forgot at the end.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences. You are right. This way it’s clearer that it is related to Project Management
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and' I thought it was ok, but maybe it’s quite confusing. I will change it

''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?” Yes, that is way I was trying to say
* I would try to avoid some repetitions. I changed it and used some of these synonyms
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''” Yes, it’s wrong
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more. 

Good luck

Thank you very much for your help

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T13:37:17Z

B wiki: /* REVIEW by Liclawio */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

*In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
*Nice structure overview, short concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read.
*Decent length of article. Would not have any harm in a bit further extensions here and there
*Concise overview of the theory on the field. However, the context of the article seems to be built on some extensive theory. References to these could be good, so the reader has the possibility to get more in depth with the underlying theory.
*Beside the overview of the theory. How can it be applied? Which lessons are to be learned, or perhaps traps/pitfalls to be avoided, and how?
**How can it be related to project- program- or portfolio management? I think it is more or less explained on the article. As ''Lyngby'' suggested, I changed the word “work” for “project”. This was, it is visible that the article is related to Project Management

*Figures/tables could be included into the context of the writing. Also difficult to figure, whether they are own figures/tables, or taken from somewhere, and in that case whether usage is ok. The table is taken from the article I refer to in Reference 1, whose link seems to not be working. The figure is taken from the book I refer to in Reference 2. Both of them are remade by me, but putting the same information.
*The link to reference 1 currently seems to be malfunctioning. It is a pdf download link, although that wasn’t the problem. I had colon (:) just after the link and that was why it wasn’t working. I have put also the main page where that article can be found

*In general very good spelling and language.
**A few places with strange sentence cutoffs. Seems like something is missing to the sentence (fx. “It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher.”). Maybe it sounds strange. I will try to find another way to say this
**It could be a good idea to consider whether the article should be written in British English, or American English, and sticking to the decision. US English will be without the letter u in behavior (similar with colour, flavour etc), where UK English in general use the letter s in places where US will use z (recognise, organise, realise, centralise etc.) I tried to write the article in British English, but those words are always a problem to me. I already changed them into UK English
**The word “which” does appear a lot, also a few places where it could perhaps make sense to replace with other wordings (fx. “which the structure is and which goals they will seek”) I’m aware of it, but I just can’t find another way to say it

Thank you very much for reviewing my article. It really helped a lot

== Feedback - Lyngby: ==

It a very interesting article written in an engaging style. Very nice piece of work with a logical flow. Well done.

However,
* I would add an abstract (summary) before the table of content and the introduction you wrote.
*The figure and the chart you provided perfectly illustrate your article.
The 2nd figure you added is not referenced in the text. You could maybe add a sentence to introduce it or add a title.
* Your article is perfectly formatted. You made a great use of formatting tags (bold/italic). However, in the third stage, I would write “Norming” in bold.
* In order to make sure the article is related to PROJECT management and not management, you could use the term “project” instead of “work” in some sentences.
* I am not sure these sentences are free of grammatical errors:
''The team focuses on defining how the team will work, '''which the structure is''' and'

''This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas.'' : Do you mean : “This may lead to competence to consider different ideas ?”
* I would try to avoid some repetitions.
- “goals” : objective/target/aim

- “to reach the state of high-performance/ When teams reach the high-performance” : achieve

-“to complete their tasks/wors” : to fulfill
*One small mistake in the conclusion: “''Tuckman´s theory can STILL be applied''”
*Did you only use these 2 references to write your article? You could maybe add some more.

Good luck

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T13:14:25Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining their structure, the way they will work and the goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the objectives and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence to consider different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s aim and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the objectives, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their targets.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to fulfil the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to conclude their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]
<ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to close the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-28T12:43:17Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed project teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team's project progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, '''Norming''', members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the project and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the project. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their project and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]
<ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T18:55:44Z

B wiki: /* REVIEW by Liclawio */

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T18:53:20Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognise the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the leader modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are content, which relates to the work the team does, process, that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and feelings, which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralise only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organise the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”.
Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realise that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]
<ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Talk:Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T18:43:13Z

B wiki: /* REVIEW by Liclawio */

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T18:32:39Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2 ''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013; [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education]</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]
<ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T18:17:07Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model'', Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]
<ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T18:11:49Z

B wiki: /* Tuckman's Model */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]
<ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Talk:Stakeholder Management

2014-11-25T17:53:47Z

B wiki: /* Review - B wiki */ new section

== Review - B wiki ==

Concept aspects:
*In general, the structure is good, although I would have used shorter headings to help the reader
*Length around 2300 words is ok for this topic. May be, you could have explained more in detail some aspects you only name
*In the first section, you could briefly introduce who is Freeman and what is Prince2
*In the “How and when should you create stakeholder engagement?” section, I find quite messy the citations from different sources. Maybe it is a problem of punctuation marks

Formal aspects:
*Try to use more punctuation marks, such as commas. These way, it is easier for the reader
*Some grammatical and spelling errors found:
**Not appropriate use of auxiliary verbs: “it is important that these ''are'' discussed”
**Past participles: “be ''classified''”
**“''Performance''” is written together
*Sometimes not appropriate usage of References
**If you are saying in the text “as described by”, you should say who said it and then put the reference
*The figures are helpful to understand the concept, but maybe more explanation is needed

Talk:Lean construction

2014-11-25T17:19:58Z

B wiki: /* Review - B wiki */

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

* In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
* Very good overview article of the theory on the field, and following the setup more or less to the letter
* Really good length of article, especially considering last parts still missing at current time.
* Nice structure overview. Concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read though the article.
* In general good language. However, you should consider a quick spell check in Word or other software also including grammar check (fx. customer). Also spell check figures and tables
** Consider whether the article should be written in UK or US English and/or look through spelling. Both words with ou and only o in text (fx. labour/behaviors). Also remember use of “z” vs “s” when considering UK vs US
** Consider single/plural forms (is/are, with/without “s” on endings).
* Nice figures. Could perhaps be included, explained of referenced a bit more through the text. Also a bit difficult to see, whether own figures/tables or taken from elsewhere, and in that case whether they are copyright protected.

== Review - B wiki ==

Formal aspects:
*Some grammatical errors, for example:
**Verbs in singular and plural: “These two interpretations ''are''…”, “they together ''strive''…”, “there ''are'' several…”
**Word order: “''productivity spent hours''”
**Past participles for irregular verbs: “''spent''”, “''shown''”
**Not appropriate use of auxiliary verbs: “does not ''recognize''”
*Some repetition can be avoided by using pronouns
*In general, not too long sentences that help to follow what you are saying
*You used very nice illustrations to explain the concept. Also useful summary tables
*References are appropriately used
*At the end of some sections you put two bullet points without introducing them before. Maybe you still have to work on them

Concept aspects:
*The abstract, in general, is good. You get into the topic quite fast and this is nice for understanding what is all about.
*The topic is interesting and is related to the subject
*Really nice structure of the article
*The length is appropriate for this kind of topic (aprox. 3000 words)
*Many references are good to see that the sources are reliable
*The text doesn’t seem to be copied and pasted. When necessary, you used inverted commas (that’s ok)

Talk:Lean construction

2014-11-25T16:55:55Z

B wiki: /* Review - B wiki */ new section

== REVIEW by Liclawio ==

* In general, a very nice setup of wikipage. Seems like proper use of the wiki platform.
* Very good overview article of the theory on the field, and following the setup more or less to the letter
* Really good length of article, especially considering last parts still missing at current time.
* Nice structure overview. Concise sentences and paragraphs making it easy to read though the article.
* In general good language. However, you should consider a quick spell check in Word or other software also including grammar check (fx. customer). Also spell check figures and tables
** Consider whether the article should be written in UK or US English and/or look through spelling. Both words with ou and only o in text (fx. labour/behaviors). Also remember use of “z” vs “s” when considering UK vs US
** Consider single/plural forms (is/are, with/without “s” on endings).
* Nice figures. Could perhaps be included, explained of referenced a bit more through the text. Also a bit difficult to see, whether own figures/tables or taken from elsewhere, and in that case whether they are copyright protected.

== Review - B wiki ==

Formal aspects:
*Some grammatical errors, for example:
**Verbs in singular and plural: “These two interpretations are…”, “they together strive…”, “there are several…”
**Word order: “productivity spent hours”
**Past participles for irregular verbs: “spent”, “shown”
**Not appropriate use of auxiliary verbs: “does not recognize”
*Some repetition can be avoided by using pronouns
*In general, not too long sentences that help to follow what you are saying
*You used very nice illustrations to explain the concept. Also useful summary tables
*References are appropriately used
*At the end of some sections you put two bullet points without introducing them before. Maybe you still have to work on them

Concept aspects:
*The abstract, in general, is good. You get into the topic quite fast and this is nice for understanding what is all about.
*The topic is interesting and is related to the subject
*Really nice structure of the article
*The length is appropriate for this kind of topic (aprox. 3000 words)
*Many references are good to see that the sources are reliable
*The text doesn’t seem to be copied and pasted. When necessary, you used inverted commas (that’s ok)

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T13:38:02Z

B wiki: /* Further Research */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model'', Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013]</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]
<ref>''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T13:37:11Z

B wiki: /* Further Research */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model'', Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013]</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]
<ref>[''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George]</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T13:35:46Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]
<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model'', Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013]</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]
<ref>[Essentials of Contemporary Management (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George]</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T13:35:00Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

<ref>[http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model'', Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013]</ref>

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

<ref>[Essentials of Contemporary Management (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George]</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-25T13:32:31Z

B wiki: /* Further Research */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

''[Reference 1]''

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

<ref>[Essentials of Contemporary Management (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George]</ref>

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013.

2. ''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George.

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-24T17:59:13Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

''[Reference 1]''

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

''[Reference 2]''

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013.

2. ''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George.

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-24T17:57:39Z

B wiki: /* References */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

[Reference 1]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013.

2. ''Essentials of Contemporary Management'' (Fifth Edition), Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George.

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-24T17:54:35Z

B wiki:

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

[Reference 1]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

==Conclusion==
Tuckman’s theories can be still applied to current teams. Each team takes its own time to complete the cycle, depending on many factors such as its size, the frequency of meetings or the external influences.

Here we include some observations to keep in mind. No team can be completely effective unless it reaches the Performing stage. Some teams adopt Storming as their way to function, although this many times leads to unproductive work. Other teams never move from the Forming stage. Teams will have to be aware that they can revert to Storming if the Norming stage is not finalized.

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013,

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-24T17:21:58Z

B wiki: /* Introduction to the Model */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Tuckman's Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

[Reference 1]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013,

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-24T17:21:29Z

B wiki: /* Further Development */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Introduction to the Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

[Reference 1]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Research ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013,

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-24T17:21:02Z

B wiki: /* Further Development */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Introduction to the Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

[Reference 1]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Development ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013,

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-24T17:20:36Z

B wiki: /* Further Development */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Introduction to the Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

[Reference 1]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Development ==

When teams reach the high-performance it may be a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. It is important that the team analyzes the product of their work. Many long-lasting teams suffer some changes that make them go back to previous stages, where they define new goals and react to the changes. This situation leads to high-effective teams that stay indefinitely in the Performing stage. However, this should not be the last stage of team development. It is necessary that teams focus also on the termination process in order to complete the work. For this reason, a fifth stage should be defined.

In 1977, Tuckman, after some years of research an investigation together with Mary Ann Jensen, developed a fifth stage and added it to the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model. They called it '''Adjourning''' and described it as a period when team members can observe and evaluate the team’s accomplishments. Also it is characterized by the detachment of team members, which can be sometimes a difficult phase.

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

This fifth stage, '''Adjourning''', applies only to groups that are eventually dissolved. Usually this happens when a group completes a finished product. It is essential that group members understand the necessity of “unforming” the group to be able to complete and finish the work and to move on. Some authors describe this stage as “Deforming and Mourning”.

*'''Feelings''' Several feelings emerge because of the upcoming disbanding. Members may feel grief, because of the changes on their relationship with the rest of the group, and tension, because they do not know what they will have to accomplish in the future. But also they feel satisfied with their individual work. These contrary feelings will change the team attitude during this stage. Anyway they have to be aware of the variety of feelings they might experience in order to complete their tasks.

*'''Process''' Members can behave in two different ways. One is being concentrated on their task as a response to their sadness about the separation of the group, which leads to increasing of productivity. The other one is becoming less focused, forcing to a low productivity.

*'''Content''' At this stage, teams have to accept the imminent transition. This will be possible if they focus on their tasks. They will have to complete any work that is left and make an evaluation of the team’s accomplishments. This last task is extremely important because they learn from their work and this can be used by future teams. In addition, it is important to make a celebration of the ending of the team’s existence as a formal way to disperse the group.

Although it can be a really stressful stage, it is necessary for all teams as a self-evaluation of the team’s progress and process.

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013,

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-24T12:42:14Z

B wiki: /* Performing */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Introduction to the Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

[Reference 1]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never lead to conflictive situations. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Development ==

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

*'''Feelings''' 

*'''Process''' 

*'''Content''' 

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013,

Four Stages of Team Development

2014-11-24T12:41:28Z

B wiki: /* Performing */

[[Category:Human Behaviour]]
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to show up its real aptitudes. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team’s effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to evaluate their work and receive feedback. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.

Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of team development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the '''Four Stages of Team Development''', developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman proposed that all teams start somehow unproductive when they are first formed, and then they grow into a self-sufficient unit.

Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – '''Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing''' – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team reach the state of high-performance.

== Introduction to the Model ==
Dr. Bruce Tuckman developed the '''Forming Storming Norming Performing''' model, which describes the way most teams approach high performance. In 1965, he published this theory in his article ''Developmental Sequence in Small Groups''.

Tuckman’s theory provides an explanation to the development and behaviour of a team, how new relationships are created as it generates maturity and capability, and how the lider modifies his way to lead.

As time goes by, teams experience different changes. Because of this, Tuckman demonstrated that there are three key points that determine the team’s effectiveness. These are ''content'', which relates to the work the team does, ''process'', that focuses on how the team deals with its objectives, and ''feelings'', which is oriented to relationships between team members. Tuckman’s analysis advises that most groups centralize only on the content part. He exposed that even really solid teams can have low efficiency because of ignorance to the process and feelings parts.

Tuckman proposed that there are four stages which describe the team’s life-cycle. The group dynamics change from low efficient and troubled to highly productive where the hard work leads to good resolution of the problems that arise. Tuckman’s theory states that these four stages are needed and crucial for a constantly growing group to confront new threats, deal with the upcoming issues, search for solutions, organize the work and bring up results. The stages are briefly explained in the next table.

[[File:Table - Four Stages of Team Development.png|700px|[1]]]

[Reference 1]

=== Forming ===
''Stage 1: Immature group''

In the first stage, '''Forming''', members try to get to know each other and search for agreement about what the group is seeking for and how should each one behave. This is also a situation in which it can be observed how each member works individually under pressure. In general, people’s behaviour is motivated by the desire of being accepted by the rest members of the group, without generating conflicts and trying that everything works as planned.

*'''Feelings''' During the Forming stage, team members are enthusiastic about becoming part of the group and anxious towards the future work. It is also important to have in mind that they may be concerned about how well they will integrate the group and if their knowledge will be useful for the team.

*'''Process''' Many behaviours can be observed during this stage. These mostly include members questions related to the teams interests and the uncertainty about which position they have inside the team. Members are highly motivated and behave adequately, but tend to work quite independently. They are more focused on themselves and usually this leads to ignorance of the problems and objectives of the team. For this reason, supervisors should manage the team during this stage.

*'''Content''' The team focuses on defining how the team will work, which the structure is and which goals they will seek. This is extremely important in order to orient the members during the development process.

In this stage, some serious issues are avoided because the members only focus on aspects related to the team organization such as work distribution or group meetings. Also each member starts gathering the information necessary about the group task. Although it is really easy to stay in this state, avoiding the conflicts does not lead to “get the job done”. Anyway, it is an important phase for the team’s development because the team starts to agree on the goals and to undertake the jobs.

=== Storming ===
''Stage 2: Fractional group''

In the second stage, '''Storming''', it is observed that team members start to disagree about different aspects because they do not wish to proceed as the others want them to. These conflicts between members will derive on the rising of the most appropriate team leader although at first it might not be accepted by all members. During this stage, groups use to be especially susceptible.

*'''Feelings''' As the team work progresses to reaching the goals, members realize that their expectations were too optimistic. This may bring feelings of frustration towards the methods used until that moment. During this stage, members open up to each other and share their opinions, but feel that the rest judge them. This may lead to competence for consideration of different ideas. Team members will try to deal with conflicts in the best way they can and will observe how each one of them reacts to the opinions of the rest.

*'''Process''' Throughout this stage, it is possible to observe that people’s attitudes will be poor comparing to the first stage. This is due to disagreements about objectives, project expectations or responsibilities of each member. Members may express their displeasure regarding the team’s limitations and other member’s way to work, as well as the team’s goals and organizing model. Some members will fix their attention to trivial issues to avoid fronting the real problems.

*'''Content''' The team tasks during this stage are to be reconsidered. They should focus on the problems that are most important to find solution for. A good procedure should be divide big goals into smaller ones in order to achieve them step by step. Some other tasks, such as member skills or organizational conflicts, should be developed. In addition, the confusion experienced can be eradicated if the goals, tasks and roles are well defined.

Some teams find it extremely difficult to leave this stage because members do not try their best to solve their discrepancies. A negative aspect is that the initial motivation is lowered and the conflictive situation can be destructive for the team. The group should reach a minimum level of maturity to be able to move on to the next stage. As well, they should establish a leadership model and accept it. This way, every team member will feel comfortable to participate in its development.

=== Norming ===
''Stage 3: Sharing group''

During the third stage, Norming, members become closer as they feel their friendship starts to grow. Group members come to a common understanding on which are the goals to achieve and how they should behave towards the rest of the group.

*'''Feelings''' Members begin to solve their differences and set more flexible rules. Because of this, members will begin to feel more confident and will be able to express their own ideas more openly. Moreover, they will realize that it is important to have different opinions in order to obtain richer results. As everyone experiences acceptance of other group members, members start to feel welcomed in the team. The constructive criticism helps to develop a more cohesive group.

*'''Process''' Members work hard to create a peaceful group. This is possible if they realize that having more useful communication is essential. In this stage, members are ready to make suggestions or ask the rest to explain the aspect they have not understood. Some jokes and nicknames appear during the conversations, which helps in the development of the members relationships.

*'''Content''' The team becomes more productive in this stage because they start to concentrate on the goals. Members agree on the plan to follow to reach their objectives.

Although team members will have to desist on imposing their ideas in many occasions and agree with the rest, they are satisfied because this way the team will work correctly.

=== Performing ===
''Stage 4: Effective group''

The fourth stage, '''Performing''', is when the real work is done. Depending on the kind of group we find, managers will have to make some decisions on this stage in order to ensure that the team is working effectively. Managers need to supervise the team work and empower team members and assure that they have enough autonomy and responsibilities to make their own decisions.

*'''Feelings''' Members during this stage feel satisfied with the team’s development. To this point, they are conscious of their own and the other’s strengths and weaknesses. They also have a common understanding about the methods used. Members feel linked to the team and perceive it as a unit “greater than the sum of its parts”. In general, they are really satisfied with the team’s effectiveness.

*'''Process''' Members have a cooperative behaviour. They are able to avoid or solve problems during the process. Each member has several responsibilities and tasks depending on the necessities and more differences between members can be observed. However, this is used to strengthen the team’s work.

*'''Content''' The team makes a notable improvement into the reaching of its goals. It is now when members are more committed to seek the team’s objectives and when their competences are higher. They should keep on working on the continuous development of the team. By expanding their knowledge and skills, the team can accomplish their goals.

Some high-performing teams reach this stage because they work as an effective and self-managed unit. Members are capable to make decisions without external supervision. Some disagreements can happen, but never leads to conflicts. What is more, they are used to help the team to reach the state of high-performance.

== Further Development ==

=== Adjourning ===
''Stage 5: Disbanding group''

*'''Feelings''' 

*'''Process''' 

*'''Content''' 

[[File:Five Stages of Team Development.png|700px]]

==References==
<references />
1. [http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/download.cfm/docid/3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2:''Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model''], Rebecca Nestor for ''Aurora'', 2013,

Four Stages of Team Development

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Four Stages of Team Development

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