In 1965, Bruce Tuckman published a paper Developmental Sequence in Small Groups in the Psychological Bulletin, Volume 63, Number 6, Pages 384-99.
In it, he described four stages of group development:
- Forming: The getting to know you phase, where our team finds out more about each other and about their mission
- Storming: A phase of conflict during which our team challenges assumptions about how we are going to work together
- Norming: Differences are ironed out, and a consensus is reached, and then the team begins to work as one
- Performing: Team practice and process improvements along with a better understanding of how the problem will be solved; all work together to create a profound shift in the team dynamic and its likelihood of success
The following diagram shows the stages of team development represented visually:
- Adjourning: Tuckman later added...
