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Level up your team with the 4 phases of team building (+ tips)

Do you know what your team’s performance level is? How easy is it for you to tell? 

Most managers wait to assess their teams at a performance or end-of-year review — an occasion that forces them to think about it. But they aren’t aware of their team’s development on a day-to-day basis. 

Forming a great team means being aware of it constantly.

The four phases of team building give you an instant snapshot of where your team’s at.

Want more ideas on how to develop your team? Check out some of these:

Nouran Smogluk

People Management Expert & Writer

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Free

15-30 min

No

No

Share fun facts and bond with a team quiz

Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.

01. Yes

share-fun-facts-and-bond-with-a-team-quiz

Free

15-30 min

No

No

Run a guided recognition activity

Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.

01. Yes

run-a-guided-recognition-activity

Paid

1-2h

Yes

No

Organize a virtual cooking class

Hire a professional chef to help your team cook a delicious lunch or dinner. May be difficult for co-workers with families. To find providers and get tips, read our blog about virtual cooking classes.

02. No

organize-a-virtual-cooking-class

Paid

15-30 min

No

Yes

Hire a stand-up comedian

Have your participants choose from a list of questions they’d like their coworkers to answer about them, before watching as they guess the right answer.

02. No

hire-a-stand-up-comedian

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Do you know what your team’s performance level is? How easy is it for you to tell? 

Most managers wait to assess their teams at a performance or end-of-year review — an occasion that forces them to think about it. But they aren’t aware of their team’s development on a day-to-day basis. 

Forming a great team means being aware of it constantly.

The four phases of team building give you an instant snapshot of where your team’s at.

Want more ideas on how to develop your team? Check out some of these:

Connection Activity

One-on-Ones

Core dimension

Trust

Duration

30 min

When did you last chat with your team members about topics unrelated to work? Exchange with each other in a couple rounds of random matchmaking.

Try this activity

What are the stages of team building?

Bruce Tuckman, a researcher of group dynamics, developed the stages of team building. These phases are a way to understand why groups behave in certain ways. 

Everyone faces some challenges when building a team, but knowing your team’s stage can make it easier to know how to develop them further to reach the next stage. 

These are some examples of what each stage looks like.

1. Forming

The team forms for the first time. Team members are brought together and assigned tasks, but they work independently. They don’t trust each other but tend to avoid conflict. 

2. Storming

The storming stage often means conflicts and disagreements arise. This is because team members start to assert themselves and their ideas. They start to know each other and understand their working styles better.

3. Norming

When the team starts to settle, it enters the norming stage. Team members start working together towards a common goal and establish a sense of cohesion. They accept the other team members and focus on getting the job done. 

4. Performing

At the final stage, the team performs. They work well together, they have established goals and roles, and they can manage conflicts that come up without getting distracted. They’re autonomous and motivated. 

5. Adjourning

The adjourning stage is when the team has completed their task and disbands.

Discover virtual team building with Gomada

Journey

Activities

Metrics

Gomada auto-generates the optimal activity sequence for your team. All you need to do is schedule the activity.

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Tips for using the phases of team building

Knowing the phases and identifying the team's current stage is only the first step. The real value of this model is in implementing it as a tool for growth.

Try out some of these activities to help push your team to the next stage.

1. Forming

Because the forming stage happens when the team is new and unfamiliar with each other, the focus is on facilitating communication. Focus on getting everyone on the same page and supporting them in bringing their ideas across.

Here are some tips to help your team move forward:

2. Storming

Not all teams go through the storming phase. If you’re lucky and the activities above are effective, you might be able to take your team straight to norming. However, if your team skips the storming phase, that may be because of conflict avoidance instead. 

Conflict doesn’t mean your team isn’t moving in the right direction. You want to enable your team to address points of disagreement openly. These are some ways to do that:

3. Norming

Getting to the norming phase is a breath of fresh air. This is when you can start seeing your team’s potential and how they’ll work together in the long run. 

It’s a good time to:

4. Performing

Hitting the performing phase is fun. You’ll know when it happens because your team will drive each other to work harder and better. As a manager, you want to empower the team to handle dissent and set goals as they need to.

Maintaining their performance over time is the biggest challenge.

Some tips that might help are:

5. Adjourning

The adjourning stage isn’t focused on further development. It’s about solidifying the lessons and wrapping up the experience. 

At this stage, you can:

  • Provide opportunities for closure and reflection 
  • Encourage team members to share their insights and lessons learned

Remember that teams are living organisms, which respond to external factors. Change, growth, and setbacks are all part of their process. 

Any major change in a performing team can bring it back to one of the earlier phases. Great teams get through these stages fast, but others can take months or even years. It’s part of the natural process of developing amazing teams.

Looking for more tips? You can:

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