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FORMING, STORMING,
NORMING, PERFORMING,
AND ADJOURNING
Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people
Glen B. Alleman, 2003 who do the right thing. – Warren Bennis, Ph.D. "On Becoming a Leader"
 Introduction
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¨  Forming – team members are introduced to each other,

each positioning from specialist Point of View
¨  Storming – the team transitions from “as is” to “to be” y
articulating shared outcome
¨  Norming – the team reaches consensus on the “to be”
process and the a shared outcome
¨  Performing – the team has settled its relationships and
expectations of each other with mutual accountability
¨  Adjourning – the team shares the improved processes with
others
 Staged Development of Teams
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¨  The Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing stages are seemingly obvious,
but are in fact difficult.
¤  Participants want to move to the Performing stage without passing through the
first three stages.
¤  The Forming stage is relatively easy.
¤  The Storming stage is difficult and many times the cause of the team’s failure.
¤  Performing seems easy once the storming process is complete.
¨  The “Real” problem is how to identify when a stage is complete:
¤  The team members agree that the stage is complete?
¤  The team coach agrees the stage is complete?
¤  The team simply moves on to the next stage?
¨  The definition of the “exit criteria” between stages needs to be worked out
prior to the team’s reaching the end of the stage.
¤  This again, seems obvious but is also very difficult.
 Forming
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¨  The “polite” stage in which the team starts to form.

¨  Everyone is trying to figure out what the team

concept is, what their role is, how they are going to
hang on to their power base.
¨  Initial “silent” leaders may take the reins.

¨  The team is usually positive – for the most part – for
the initial meetings.
¨  No one has offended anyone at this point yet!
 Forming
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¨  Forming includes feelings and behaviors of:

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

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

¤  Resisting the tasks mutually agreed upon by the team.
¤  Resisting quality improvement approaches suggested by other members.
¤  Sharp fluctuations in attitude about the team and the project's chance of success.
¤  Arguing among members even when they agree on the real issues.
¤  Defensiveness, competition, and choosing sides.
¤  Questioning the wisdom of those who selected this project and appointed the
other members of the team.
¤  Establishing unrealistic goals. Disunity, increased tension, and jealousy.
¨  The above pressures mean that team members have little energy to spend
on progressing towards the team's goal.
¨  But they are beginning to understand one another. This phase sometimes
takes 3 or 4 meetings before arriving at the Norming phase.
¨  Exit Criteria?
 Norming
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¨  The team starting to work well together, and has turned around
from the “storming” phase.
¨  They may start to “brag up” the team concept to others who
aren’t in the team and will be very positive about their role/
team group.
¨  Often, the team will bounce back and forth between
“storming” and “norming” when issues crop up.
¨  Regressions will become fewer and fewer and the team will
bounce back to “norming” in a quicker manner as the team
“matures.”
¨  The natural leaders at this stage may not be the ones who
were visible in stages 1 & 2. Those people may no longer have
the “unofficial lead roles” within the team.
¨  This team still takes management direction, but not as much as
storming.
 Norming
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¨  Norming includes feelings and behaviors of:

¤  An ability to express criticism openly and constructively.
¤  Acceptance of membership in the team.
¤  An attempt to achieve harmony by avoiding conflict.
¤  More friendliness, confiding in each other, and sharing of
personal problems.
¤  A sense of team cohesion, spirit, and goals.
¤  Establishing and maintaining team ground rules and
boundaries.
¨  As team members begin to work out their differences,
they now have more time and energy to spend on their
assigned outcomes.
¨  Exit Criteria?
 Performing
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¨  This is the level where the team becomes a high–

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

¤  Members have insights into personal and group processes,
and better understanding of each other's strengths and
weakness, and how those contribute to the success of the
team’s outcomes
¤  Constructive self–change with mutual support.
¤  Ability to prevent or work through group problems.
¤  Close attachment to the team.

¨  The team is now an effective, cohesive unit. You can tell
when your team has reached this stage because you
start getting a lot of work done.
¨  Exit Criteria?
 Adjourning
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¨  The team briefs and shares the improved process

during this phase.
¨  When the team finally completes that last briefing,

there is always a bittersweet sense of

accomplishment coupled with the reluctance to say
good–bye.
¨  Many relationships formed within these teams

continue long after the team disbands.

¨  Exit Criteria?
 Teams versus Work Groups
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Roles and Responsibilities

Work Group Teams

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

Work Group Teams

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

Work Group Teams

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

Work Group Teams

¨  Groups tend to get ¨  Teams use facilitators
bogged down with to keep the team on
trivial issues. the right path.
¨  Hierarchy interferes

with accomplishing the

mission of the team
 Teams versus Work Groups
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Work Group Teams

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

Work Group Teams

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

everyone should consult.
¨  Jon Katzenbach, The Wisdom of Teams

¨  Bruce Tuckman’s group dynamics model was first

developed the 4 stages, then a 5th stage of the

model used here