TUCKMAN - STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

Tuckman (1965) in describing the stages of group development identified four distinct
stages of group development. He suggested that groups needed to move through and
experience all four stages in order to maximise the potential for a successful group
experience. In 1977 Tuckman and Jensen added a fifth stage.

Forming where students form themselves into groups

Storming where students debate and decide group issues such as leadership,
direction, method etc.
Norming where students establish the ground rules for operating as a group
Performing where groups become cohesive and effective
Adjourning where the group work ends and students reflect upon the process

The crucial stage for students is in the forming stage. Robbins et al. (2000) split the
forming stage into two linked, but distinct stages. They identified the first of these as Prestage 1 and the second as Stage 1 Forming (see Figure X). Pre-stage 1 is the period prior
to people joining groups and forming formal groups. It is in this Pre-stage that the team
building exercises and discussions play an important part in developing effective groups.
Figure X: Stages in group development

STAGE I FORMING

Student/group dynamics
At the first meeting group members are
polite
Generally little planning
Minimal leadership or agreed leader or
group roles
Vague goals may have been set
Members are cautious and guarded
Decision making is minimal
Conflicts tend to be avoided as people
find their feet

What you can do

Have students formalise their group
roles and rules
Have students introduce themselves to
each other and discuss the strengths and
preferences that they can bring to the
group
Have the students decide on what form
of leadership the group should have
You may ask for the group to nominate a
group coordinator/leader
Discuss the need to keep minutes,
personal and/or group journals and
appoint tasks
Assist students to determine realistic and
achievable goals and sub goals
STAGE II STORMING
Is sometimes the immature stage of the
Encourage the group to work through
groups development
and deal with differences of opinion or
Members may still be a little unsure
ideas and arrive at their own solutions to
about what actions the group should
their own problems. Be creative!
take, when, why and how
Flag potential organisational,
Members may at times be confused
management and conflict issues
especially if leadership issues arise or
Support the group leader or coordinator
the group is focussing too heavily on
in their role (give some guidelines)
group issues rather than the task
Facilitate a group meeting where
Students are beginning to understand
individuals have chance to articulate
each other
their ideas and concerns (helps to
Growing comfort with each others
identify differences of opinion)
styles, attitudes and expertise
Remind the group of brainstorming
The group may not always act like a
and effective group work principles
group but they are beginning to find
Ask students to keep a group work
their own way
journal in which they record their own
There can be some conflict in this stage
insights or experiences of the process
STAGE III NORMING
Ask how rather than why as a result
Monitor, motivate and support the
they may tend to focus on the current
groups through the total process
process rather than challenging the way Make comparisons to successful teams
things are done
(eg sporting teams who can manage their
Group members reconcile competing
performance peaks and troughs)
loyalties and responsibilities
Reinforce the need for short term goals
Ground rules are established; work is
that are linked to their longer term goal,
done on roles in the group and
and as for all SMART (Specific,
individuality of group members
Measurable, Attractive or Attainable,
Competitive relationships begin to
Realistic and Time framed) goals they
become more cooperative
must be achievable and set to a time line

 A growing sense of group cohesion,

competence and common spirit/goals
Increased productivity and sharing of
opinions, ideas and skills
The group is able to constructively self
evaluate and reflect
Begin to work through their problems
STAGE IV PERFORMING
Group members have discovered and
Encourage reporting back to you on how
accepted each others strengths and
they are managing goals and tasks
weaknesses
Support total group involvement by
Increased insight and a better
engaging with individual group members
understanding of each other
rather than a single group spokesperson
Satisfaction with groups progress
during feedback sessions
Roles are understood
Good group spirit and confidence
Be aware that groups may slide back
Increased ability to prevent and work
into a storming phase. Remind students
through problems as they arise
that it not a linear process and they may
Primary focus is on the task and high
cycle through the above three more than
level performance
once. If this is the case ask the group to
Interpersonal and group issues are dealt
again self-manage the storming process
with by open communication, collegial
a work back through their issues
support and trust
There is group synergy (people are
working in harmony - polling their
strengths to maximise group output)
STAGE V ADJOURNING
The success of the use group work will depend on whether students have understood the
benefits of having worked collaboratively in a group. Therefore the process for
adjourning groups is very important. This can be achieved through quality debriefing by
the teacher to all groups in class or via a facilitated group feedback session to the entire
class. In this case each group is required to report back to the class a summary of their
group work processes and project. This could also be supported by written reports. In
both cases students can be asked to individually briefly outline what benefits or insights
they gained from group work (orally or on paper). This could be captured through the
use of a learning journal.
Techniques, ideas and options for facilitating reflection and evaluation of group work are
addressed in detail in Section Five: Reflection and Evaluation of this Guide)