“Would I rather Be Feared or Loved? Easy. Both. I want People to Be Afraid of how much They Love me.” - Michael Scott

Stages of Team Development

Forming

You’ve got a new team or team member, and there may be some nerves, but generally during this stage, team members are feeling excited to be together and eager about the work ahead. There are usually a ton of questions during this phase, reflecting both the excitement and the anxiety about everyone’s place on the team.

Team efficiency is low during this stage, but everyone is understanding since you’re in the beginning phases. Think of it as the first day of work for Jim Halpert in The Office. Everyone’s trying to find their place, and the dynamics are just beginning to form.

Storming

As team members strive to perform, it’s inevitable that you’ll find pain points. There will likely be members who can’t deliver on the unspoken expectations created during forming. Conflict will begin to rise internally; some team members may start to gossip about others, tempers may begin to boil, and likely unspoken complaints will remain unspoken. Think of the tension between Michael Scott and Toby Flenderson. Misunderstandings and frustrations are bound to surface.

As a team member, it’s your responsibility to contribute to a team environment that can navigate through these issues. According to Google’s rework (2015 blog post, which is now archived here), there are five key norms to team success:

Psychological Safety: Can we take risks on this team without feeling insecure or embarrassed?
Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high-quality work on time?
Structure and Clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?
Meaning: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us?
Impact: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we’re doing matters?

Norming

The resolution stage is when things start to become “normal” again. Some teams don’t reach this stage or need major changes to the team/project structure to reach norming. Group harmony is not quite reached, but don’t worry, you’ll get there! Think of it as the moments when the Scranton branch finally settles into a rhythm after the initial chaos of merging with the Stamford branch.

Performing

The pinnacle of an efficient team. This stage is full of communication, productive work output, and progress. The team functions like a well-oiled machine. These are the days we long for but never happen without the first 3 steps. It’s important to keep in mind what step your team is currently in and work through them together.

There’s a fifth stage that doesn’t get talked about enough.

Reforming

Teams don’t stay in Performing forever. Someone leaves, a new person joins, the project scope changes, leadership shifts. Suddenly you’re back in Forming whether you like it or not. I’ve watched teams that were performing at a high level completely reset because one key person left and nobody acknowledged that the dynamic had changed.

The mistake is pretending you’re still in Performing when you’re clearly back in Storming. The team knows. They can feel it. The best thing a leader can do in that moment is name it. “We’re in a transition. Things are going to feel different for a while. That’s normal.” That one sentence does more than six months of pretending everything is fine.

Embracing Conflict for Team Growth

The thing nobody tells you about conflict is that the most dangerous kind isn’t the loud kind. It’s the silent kind. The team member who disagrees with a decision but says nothing in the meeting, then complains about it in Slack afterwards. The person who nods along but quietly disengages. That’s the conflict that actually kills teams because you can’t navigate something nobody is willing to put on the table.