Forming, storming, norming, performing
Four-stage evolution of a top team
High performance teams are created through an evolutionary process that at least one model characterizes as having four stages from forming, storming, norming, to performing.
The four-stage model, which dates to the mid-1960s from a classic book by Katzenbach and Smith, called, The Wisdom of Teams, and further enhanced by the work of Glenn Parker in a number of books and articles, characterizes the evolution of a group to a high performance team, says Barry Sagotsky, MBA, owner of Magnolia Lane Consulting in Princeton, NJ. Sagotsky also is a partner of Asherman Associates, a New York, NY, firm that focuses on negotiation in pharmaceutical drug development.
Here are the basic stages:
- Forming: At the very beginning, individuals in a group form personal relationships characterized by dependence, safe pattern behavior, guidance, and direction, Sagotsky says.
The team will get together, listen to the leader's introduction, address rules and responsibilities, and everyone looks to the leader for guidance, he adds.
- Storming: "A team is at this level the minute someone says, 'I don't agree with this role you have me pegged in or some other issue,'" Sagotsky says. "Or someone might say, 'I don't like the way you're treating me.'"
In the storming stage, individual members are comfortable enough to openly disagree, and arguments can occur. This is not necessarily bad, though unmanaged it can slow a team down or stop progress, Sagotsky notes.
"Well-managed storming can lead to increased trust in the relationship, competition in favor of highest quality in on-time deliverables, and effective bargaining," he adds.
- Norming: "The ground rules become the team's culture," Sagotsky says. "If a ground rule is that one person speaks at a time, and it's enforced, then eventually it becomes automatic, and people manage themselves and each other."
Typically, teams reach the norming stage after the storming stage, he says.
"This is a sequence where sometimes segments happen quicker than at other times," Sagotsky explains. "Norming might happen a year or more after a team is put together, and sometimes it never happens, simply because no one takes the time to agree on and enforce ground rules and processes."
Whenever a member changes, the team should understand they are now a new team, and at the forming stage.
- Performing: "This is where everything is automatic, and personal relationships are not function-based," Sagotsky says. "People move from silos to a team, and the results are that 'All of us are more than the sums of our parts.'"
Problem-solving is more efficient and interdependent. The attitude has shifted from 'It's not my problem to solve' to an attitude that 'It's our problem, and here's my take on it,' Sagotsky says.
In the performing stage, the high performance team is fully formed and there is a group identity and intense group loyalty, he adds.
"It's worth the work and discipline involved to get to the fun, excitement, support, respect, and learning available on a high performance team," Sagotsky says.
High performance teams are created through an evolutionary process that at least one model characterizes as having four stages from forming, storming, norming, to performing.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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