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Jory MacKay
Jory is a writer, content strategist and award-winning editor of the Unsplash Book. He contributes to Inc., Fast Company, Quartz, and more.
July 09, 2025 · 12 min read

How to use the 5 stages of team development to be a better leader


How to use the 5 stages of team development to be a better leader

Building high-performing teams is hard work. Many leaders think you can just bring random people together, sit them in a room, and set them a task — but that rarely, if ever works.

It takes time for a team to bond, set boundaries, establish norms, and hit peak efficiency.

Bruce Tuckman’s forming-storming-norming-performing-adjourning team development model is one of the most popular and effective frameworks to help leaders build high-performing teams from scratch.

If you’re a leader struggling with the growing pains of a new team, this article is for you.

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We’ll break down the 5 stage team development model to bring the team-bonding journey to life and explain what you need to do, at each stage, to create the platform your team needs to thrive.

What are the 5 main stages of team development?

The biggest companies in the world all started small — even Google, Apple, and Amazon. Those small, inefficient start-ups with scrappy processes and garage offices evolved to become the productive global enterprises we know and love today.

That development journey is the same at a team-level, too. In the early days, teams are still trying to work things out — they try different things, make mistakes, and become stronger and stronger until they find an efficient working rhythm.

During these early stages, managers and leaders have to be more hands-on, helping to guide decision-making, solve problems, and even resolve conflict. But, as a team matures, they can step back to provide more autonomy, safe in the knowledge the team is confident and functioning well.

The most common take on the stages of team development comes from the 1960s (further refined in the 1990s), when Bruce Tuckman proposed his five stages of team development:

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

Almost all other team development frameworks are a variation (or renaming) of these stages, plotting the journey of a team’s formation, maturing, and eventually, their disbanding.

As a leader, it’s important to know and understand these stages to support your teams as they go through their own journey of bonding and development.

Tuckman’s 5 team development stages explained

Let’s break down each stage of the Tuckman model to understand the team development journey in more detail, and how you, as a leader, can help make it a success.


What are the 5 main stages of team development?

Stage 1: Forming

As the name suggests, the Forming stage is all about bringing the team together for the first time by making introductions, facilitating initial team bonding, and agreeing on objectives, goals, and team roles.


Forming Phase of Team Development

The Forming stage is often an exciting time. Team members are keen to meet new people, are optimistic about the future, and motivated to get stuck into a new challenge.

But at the same time, it can also be anxiety-inducing. Some people can be shy around new people, and not like the uncertainty that comes with unknowns ahead of them.

Some examples of the typical activities to complete in this stage:

During this stage, you may observe the following behaviors:

As a leader, you’ll be expected to:

Here’s a summary of what the team will need to move through this stage:

Team needs Role of leadership
To form bonds with their new colleagues To build trust with their new manager/team leader
Clarity on expectations Provide project plans, scope, objectives, and measurable goals
To understand the team structure and their role within it Identify and communicate roles and responsibilities
Understanding ways of working and ground rules Co-create a project charter or ways of working principles
Clear communication Top-down communication from leadership
Reassurance and confidence One-on-one team relationships and trust from management

What the “Forming” stage can look like in a real life project:

When forming a new project team, the project manager will first spend time meeting each member of the team individually to build a relationship. During this meeting, they’ll also brief them on the project, the objectives, and their role within the project team.

From there, a whole-team kick off event will take place. This will:

Resources you can use to be a better leader during this stage:

Stage 2: Storming

With the introductions made and the foundations set, the Storming stage is where teams begin to work together on initial tasks. During this stage, team members establish a working rhythm, seek to gain trust, and form stronger relationships, with initial conflicts and clashes often arising.

The Storming stage is similar to the ‘honeymoon phase’ in personal relationships — it still has an air of excitement and novelty, but individual’s quirks begin to surface.


Storming Phase of Team Development

The realities of the goals and objectives also become more clear. For some, this will provide extra motivation and drive, but others may become nervous if they feel the goals are unrealistic, or become unhappy about their emerging role in the team.

Some examples of the typical activities to complete in this stage:

During this stage, you may observe the following behaviors:

As a leader, you’ll be expected to:

Here’s a summary of what the team will need to move through this stage:

Team needs Role of leadership
Continued team bonding and relationship building Facilitate team meetings and rituals, plus continue one-on-one meetings and check-ins
Detailed direction setting and scoping Support planning and requirements sessions
Feedback on work and direction Give feedback at a team and individual level
Re-clarifying team structure and roles and responsibilities Re-confirming and adapting (if necessary) team structures and roles
Coaching and mentoring Begin delegation and encouraging team responsibility and accountability
Support managing and resolving conflict Conflict resolution at a team and individual level
Reassurance and confidence One-on-one team relationships and trust from management

What the “Storming” stage can look like in a real life project:

The Storming stage often coincides with the Initiation, Design, or Planning phases of a traditional project life cycle. This means the team is simultaneously understanding how to deliver the project, while working out how they’ll all work together — that’s a lot!

To help, this means lots of project update meetings, requirements and planning workshops, and one-on-ones while project team members settle into their new roles. Where initial conflicts arise, it’s important to deal with them quickly and effectively, as well as provide the team feedback on what’s working well, and what isn’t.

Project governance structures (e.g., status meetings, reporting) may change to adapt to the evolving ways of working of the team.

Resources you can use to be a better leader during this stage:

Stage 3: Norming

The Norming stage is where the team gets over the initial growing pains and begins to gel. The personality clashes and conflicts you (hopefully) resolved in the Storming stage contribute to a stronger team dynamic, with shared leadership and responsibility growing across the group.

The spirit of cooperation, common purpose, and collaboration begin to show, and the team often starts adjusting their ways of working to adapt to an individual’s skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as their external environment.


Norming Phase of Team Development

Teams may feel re-energized at this stage, thanks to the security and stability of the team environment and the strong relationships which have now been built. Confidence and sense of belonging also increase, and there is a trust and freedom of expression within the group.

Some examples of the typical activities to complete in this stage:

During this stage, you may observe the following behaviors:

As a leader, you’ll be expected to:

Here’s a summary of what the team will need to move through this stage:

Team needs Role of leadership
Permission to solve problems and make decisions Inspire trust and delegate responsibilities
Resources to help them success Provide resources and resolve escalated issues
Input on complex problems and decisions Be available to support where requested
To receive feedback Provide team and individual feedback
Opportunities to celebrate Create time and space for the team to celebrate success
Reassurance and confidence One-on-one team relationships and trust from management

What the “Norming” stage can look like in a real life project:

As project teams enter the Norming stage, it’s important for the project manager to have the self-awareness to get out of the way. Transitioning to a more bottom-up ‘servant leader’ approach is advised, with a reduction in formal governance, updates meetings, and hand-holding to make room for team autonomy.

Sometimes a project manager needs to have the self-awareness to get out of the way.

This stage often aligns with the Development stage of the project life cycle, where teams run their own project rituals, such as daily standups and retrospectives, with the project manager there to solve escalated issues or support strategic decision-making.

Resources you can use to be a better leader during this stage:

Stage 4: Performing

The Performing stage is where every team wants to be — effective, in-sync, and productive. At this stage, the team is fully in its flow, managing itself and its objectives with little support from managers and leaders.

By this stage, the team are all clear on roles, have independence, and have even developed the flexibility to adapt to changes and challenges when they occur. As well as being productive, these teams also boast great creativity, problem-solving, and decision-making prowess too.


Performing Phase of Team Development

This is an exciting stage to work in as there’s strong commitment, relationships, and confidence across the team. It’s also a fun environment to work in, with team members having a general sense of empathy, trust, and respect for each other.

As a leader, keeping the team in this stage is a delicate balancing act. A high-performing team works hard and gives it their all. But over time, they risk burnout, demotivation, and the itch to try something new.

Teams aren’t static - and neither are your responsibilities as a leader

Some examples of the typical activities to complete in this stage:

During this stage, you may observe the following behaviors:

As a leader, you’ll be expected to:

Here’s a summary of what the team will need to move through this stage:

Team needs Role of leadership
Resources to help them success Provide resources and resolve escalated issues
Inputs on complex problems and decisions Be available to support where requested
To receive feedback Provide team and individual feedback
Continual support to maintain motivation and energy Praise, senior feedback, customer feedback, and reward
Opportunities to celebrate Create time and space for the team to celebrate success
Reassurance and confidence One-on-one team relationships and trust from management
Support with capacity and workload management Balance productivity and output with rest and reward

What the “Performing” stage can look like in a real life project:

Much like the Norming stage, when a team reaches Performing, the project manager should be there to support, guide, and enable, rather than actively direct and manage.

As project teams get in the flow of delivering strong outputs, the project manager ensures workloads, expectations, and capacity is managed effectively. Striking this balance ensures the output remains high, while avoiding burnout and fatigue.

Resources you can use to be a better leader during this stage:

Stage 5: Adjourning

All good things come to an end, and it’s important to manage the closing or turnover of a team carefully. In the Adjourning stage, either team members leave the team, or the team is completely disbanded.

If one or more team members leave and are replaced, the dynamic of new members may cause the team to move back to the Storming or Norming stage.


Adjourning Phase of Team Development

This would require a leader to re-manage the team back to the Performing stage, stepping back into a more hand-on role if required.

If the team is completely disbanded, leaders should focus on reviewing their performance, learning and sharing lessons, and supporting each team member onto their next toles.

No matter the scenario, the Adjourning stage often feels like a break-up as the team goes through a form of workplace grief. During this period, momentum and energy are low, with productivity often slowing or grinding to a halt.

Some examples of the typical activities to complete in this stage:

During this stage, you may observe the following behaviors:

As a leader, you’ll be expected to:

Here’s a summary of what the team will need to move through this stage:

Team needs Role of leadership
Support to manage the changes Open and honest communication and support
To evaluate performance Honest assessment of what went well and what could be improved
To capture learning Facilitate the capture and sharing of learning
Recognition of hard work Rewards and recognizing employees
Tie up loose ends Ensure all tasks are completed/handed over effectively

What the “Adjourning” stage can look like in a real life project:

When teams lose a critical member, project managers often work to steady the ship as quickly as possible by identifying a replacement and ensuring a successful handover. There may be meetings or briefings to re-align on the objectives and provide reassurance to the remaining, and new, team members.

When a project closes and the team disbands, project managers facilitate the capturing of lessons learned and the project closure governance — often with a closure report and/or closure meeting. Project teams should always make time to celebrate success before rushing off to the next big thing, too!

Resources you can use to be a better leader during this stage:

Some extra leadership tips to help your team thrive at every stage

Now that you know all about the Tuckman team development stages, you’re ready to start guiding your team towards high-performance.

Here are some final leadership tips to help you along the way:

The bottom line: Teams aren’t static — and neither are your responsibilities as a leader

Despite what some leaders will have you believe, building a high-performing team takes time, effort, and patience. Tuckman’s 5-stage team development model is one of the most respected and well-used frameworks for building a successful team, taking you from initial formation right through to high-performance and beyond.

As a leader, it’s essential to understand that journey and create a platform for success. While a top-down, hands-on approach will be needed at the start, it’s important to step back and give your team the autonomy they need as they enter the Norming and Performing stages.

Tools like Planio are perfect for enabling your team to connect, communicate, and grow, while also giving you the oversight and data you need to manage a successful project.

With features for task management, document storage, team collaboration, and time tracking, Planio is the all-around project management powerhouse to build a team of high-performing superstars.

Try Planio with your own team — free for 30 days (no credit card required!)