Use Tuckman’s ‘Phases of Development’ to Tackle Any Group Project

Whether you’re in school or at work, a group project can be a real double-edged sword. Working on your own can be preferable if you are prone to distraction or don’t want to be subject to anyone else’s schedule or lack of productivity. On the other hand, it sure can be nice to have other people to bounce ideas off of and share responsibilities with.

It all comes down to understanding your group’s dynamics and making them work for you—and Tuckman’s four stages of group development can help you there.

What are Tuckman’s four stages of group development?

Back in 1965, psychological researcher Bruch Tuckmman proposed that there are four phases to the process of team growth and development. If you follow the steps, you can develop your maturity, ability, and skills while strengthening the relationships that keep the group moving. The aim is for you all to be more collaborative, instead of relying on a single member of the team to take the lead or pull most of the weight.

Here are Tuckman’s four stages:

1. Forming
2. Storming
3. Norming
4. Performing

A few years after developing this core list, Tuckman also suggested adding “adjourning” as a possible fifth stage, but for the most part, you can have success with this model while focusing on the four classics.

How Tuckman’s stages work

Here’s how each of the four stages works, and how you can identify them in your own group projects.

1. Forming: This is the first stage of the team’s relationship development, so it involves getting together and identifying a clear goal, plus any challenges or opportunities that may arise in its pursuit. When you trade numbers with classmates to form a chat to discuss a group assignment, you’re already forming. Meeting up in the workplace, at a library, or virtually are all ways to engage in forming, but coming together is just the start. You still have to identify a common goal, so consider using a method like SMART or PACT to structure your work and clearly define what you’re all going to be working toward. It’s also helpful to establish a single source of truth (SSOT) early on, so make a Google Drive or similar kind of folder where everyone can add resources, updates, and materials. (The first document in there should be the notes from the forming stage and meeting, including the clearly defined goal you set as a group, along with an outline of who is responsible for what.)
2. Storming: You’d think this one refers to brainstorming, but it actually predicts a storm of conflicts instead. Tuckman suggested that during the storming stage, interpersonal conflicts can arise. When forming, people are usually feeling polite and eager to get started, but in this phase, differences in work style and personality can emerge, which can lead to arguing and other unproductive behavior. The good news is that in his original research, only half of the groups he studied experienced internal conflict at all; the other half was able to move straight to norming, skipping this stage altogether. If and when storming occurs, consider the criticisms voiced by each member of the team and make adjustments to the process as necessary. A major element of successful teamwork is adaptability, so be willing to adjust roles and responsibilities as conflicts arise so everyone can work comfortably. The goal in this phase is to move into a problem-solving mentality—and the first problem you’re solving is internal conflict.
3. Norming: Whether you get here by bypassing the storming phase or not, norming is an essential phase of group work because it’s where the real cooperation begins. Norming is what happens when you allow for some flexibility, work through conflicts, and reach a point where everyone knows and is content with their role and can actually get to work. By this stage, people should be comfortable expressing opinions and providing updates to other group members—but it’s easy to get too comfortable, so it’s smart to set up periodic meetings and check-ins too. Like forming, these can be done in person or virtually, but should be pre-scheduled and include time for everyone to share what they’ve worked on, what they’re working toward, and what issues they’ve faced.
4. Performing: This is the phase reached when all members of the group are feeling pleased with your progress. If you’re not all feeling motivated, knowledgeable, and prepared, you haven’t hit the performing phase, but once you do, it should be smooth sailing to the end of the project. It’s important to note that reaching any of these phases doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t slide back into a previous one; think of them as more of a cycle than a linear path.

Tuckman’s proposed “adjourning” phase involves finishing all the assigned tasks and dissolving the group. This usually happens naturally: You present your report during your midterm or a big meeting at work, and there’s no need for the group afterward. Still, this phase can be helpful, even if only for the individuals who will go on to be in another group or work together again. You can make the dissolution of the team more productive by conducting an after-action review that considers what you set out to do, what you actually did, and what could be improved upon to make the next project go more smoothly.

Understanding and identifying these phases will help you better work through, set expectations, and stay on task, but it’s also important to set clear guidelines about everyone’s roles in the group. Create deadlines and hold check-ins to figure out not only which phase you’re in, but how project is coming together, so you don’t get to the end of your timeline to find you’ve missed something major.