Understand Stages of Team Development and Making It Work Across Generations and Time Zones

One of the biggest challenges I faced as I grew into my role was building a marketing team from the ground up—with colleagues from different generations, backgrounds, and from other parts of the world. Most of the time, not even from my own country.

I had never led a team before. Suddenly, I had to figure out how to do that well. How do you start? How do you give direction without sounding like you’re micromanaging? And how do you make sure your team knows they can trust you, without losing grip on the goals you’re supposed to deliver?

Back in the 1960s, psychologist Bruce Tuckman created a simple but powerful model for how groups grow and evolve: stages of group development. You might have heard of it: forming storming norming and performing—and later, adjourning. The stages might sound like a chaotic relationship arc, but they’re surprisingly accurate for how teams develop.

Why does this matter? Because building a high performing team takes more than hiring good people. It takes time, trust, and understanding how group dynamics play out.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the five stages Tuckman identified:

1. Forming – The team comes together. Everyone is polite, maybe a little reserved. Roles are unclear, and most people are just trying to understand how things work.
2. Storming – The polite phase ends. Ideas are challenged, personalities clash, and tensions can rise. It’s uncomfortable, but necessary, this is where trust starts to build.
3. Norming – Things begin to settle. People understand their roles better, communication gets smoother, and collaboration becomes easier.
4. Performing – The team runs almost on autopilot. Trust is high, people take initiative, and things just flow. This is what you’ve been working toward.
5. Adjourning – Often overlooked, this final stage happens when the project wraps up. Taking time to reflect, celebrate wins, and part ways with intention matters more than we think.

Whether you’re leading a team or part of one, knowing these stages helps. It gives you a map for the moments when things feel uncertain or frustrating; and it reminds you that progress often looks messy before it looks smooth.

(And by the way, the people in these photos are the real Pluria team, from different departments and roles. No stock images here 🙂)

Forming: When the Team Is Just Getting Started

The first day of a new team often feels like the first day of school. People are friendly, a little quiet, and not entirely sure what happens next. That’s the forming stage, the very beginning of how teams come together.

At this point, everything is new. Roles aren’t fully defined, expectations are still fuzzy, and most people are just trying to figure out how they fit into the picture. There’s usually a mix of excitement and uncertainty in the room.

One of the biggest hurdles here is the lack of clarity. Without a clear direction, team members may hold back, unsure of what they’re supposed to do or how to contribute. That’s normal. But it’s also where good leadership makes a real difference.

If you’re guiding a team through this early phase, focus on creating structure. Start with the basics: define the team’s goals, explain who’s doing what, and set a few ground rules. More than anything, build trust from day one: by being open, transparent, and approachable. People don’t need perfection. They need to know someone’s steering the ship.

Small things can go a long way. A quick icebreaker helps people relax and start connecting. A team charter—something simple that outlines goals, roles, and ways of working together—can bring clarity when it’s needed most.

Storming: When Friction Starts to Show

After the polite introductions and first-week optimism, teams enter the storming stage. This is where real differences start to surface. People speak up more, ideas clash, and tensions can rise—sometimes over direction, priorities, or simply how things get done.

It’s a messy phase, but a necessary one. Disagreements don’t mean the team is falling apart. In fact, they usually mean the team is starting to care enough to be honest.

The challenges here are familiar: unclear roles, miscommunication, frustration over who’s doing what or how. Emotions run higher. Decisions take longer. And progress might feel slower than it did at the start.

If you’re leading during this stage, your job isn’t conflict resolution, it’s to help the team move through it with intention. That means staying neutral, focusing on solutions, and encouraging open, respectful conversations. It also means reinforcing what success looks like and reminding everyone of the bigger picture.

A few simple things can help:

• Clarify roles and expectations again (yes, even if you’ve already done it once).
• Create space for people to speak honestly, without judgment.
• Address tensions early, before they turn into something bigger.

Imagine two teammates butting heads over how to reach the next milestone. One’s pushing for speed, the other wants to slow down and plan. It’s tempting to take sides, but what helps more is stepping in with perspective, reminding them of the shared goal, and helping them find common ground.

Storming can be uncomfortable, but it’s also the moment when teams start building real trust. If they make it through, they’re much more likely to thrive together later on.

Norming: When Things Start to Click

After the friction of the storming stage, something shifts. The team begins to find its rhythm. Roles feel clearer, communication gets easier, and collaboration starts to feel more natural. This is the norming stage, the moment when things stop being hard all the time and team performance is at its peak.

You’ll notice the change. People step up, support each other, and start working toward shared goals instead of individual wins. Decisions happen faster. Problem-solving feels more like teamwork than tug-of-war.

That said, this phase isn’t entirely smooth sailing. Teams in the norming stage sometimes lean too far into harmony, avoiding disagreement just to keep the peace. And while the calm is welcome, too much comfort can lead to complacency.

As a leader, your role now is to keep things balanced. Encourage honest conversations, even when opinions differ. Revisit team agreements and check in on how people are feeling about their roles and responsibilities. Keep the momentum going by celebrating small wins and recognizing the progress made.

This is also a good time to refine how your team works—adjust workflows, revisit priorities, and make sure everyone has what they need to do their best work.

Picture this: a team that used to debate every small decision is now brainstorming with ease, splitting up tasks without drama, and stepping in for each other without being asked. That’s norming. It may not make headlines, but this is where real team culture starts to take root.

Example: What Norming Looks Like in Practice

Let’s say a team has just made it through a stormy start. The team came together quickly to launch a new feature. In the beginning, meetings were tense. The product manager and the lead developer disagreed on timelines. Marketing pushed for more user testing, while design was focused on speed. Roles overlapped, decisions were delayed, and collaboration felt like a constant tug-of-war.

But after a few difficult weeks, something shifts.

During a team retrospective, instead of defending their own points of view, people start listening. The product manager acknowledges that the roadmap may have been too ambitious. The developer explains her concerns about tech debt. The designer offers to adjust sprint priorities. It’s a small moment, but a meaningful one—because it marks the beginning of real collaboration.

From there, things start to click.

1. Roles become clearer: Tasks are assigned based on strengths, and people know who’s responsible for what.
2. Communication improves: Daily stand-ups are more focused, and team members speak up more comfortably.
3. Trust grows: People follow through, offer help, and share honest feedback without fear of conflict.
4. Progress feels shared: Instead of siloed wins, there’s a collective sense of achievement.

Performing: When the Team Works at Its Best

This is where the team really finds its flow. In the performing stage, people work with confidence, focus, and trust. Roles are clear, collaboration feels easy, and the team knows how to deliver: together.

You don’t have to micromanage. The team is proactive, motivated, and able to solve problems on their own. Decisions happen faster. Meetings are purposeful. Goals are met—and often exceeded.

But even high-performing teams need care. The risk now isn’t conflict, it’s comfort. Over time, energy can fade, and people might start doing just enough instead of pushing for more.

As a leader, your role shifts again. You’re no longer solving problems every day, you’re removing roadblocks so the team can keep moving. You delegate real responsibility, not just tasks. You look for ways to challenge the team and keep growth on the table.

A few things help here:

• Set fresh goals that stretch the team’s skills.
• Keep celebrating progress, even small wins matter.
• Stay close enough to offer support, but far enough to let people lead.

Imagine a team delivering high-quality work, supporting one another naturally, and moving through complex tasks with calm focus. That’s performing. The work isn’t always easy, but the way the team handles it makes all the difference.

Adjourning: Closing the Loop with Intention

Every team journey has an end. In the adjourning stage, the work is done, goals have been met, and it’s time for the team to part ways. This is a phase of closure, often a mix of pride, relief, and, sometimes, a little sadness.

After working closely together, it’s natural for people to feel a sense of loss or uncertainty about what’s next. At the same time, there’s satisfaction in seeing something through. The team has built something together and now it’s time to move on.

This stage doesn’t get as much attention, but it matters. Once the main goal is out of the way, energy often drops. People begin to check out. That’s why leadership still plays a key role, even here.

What helps:

• Host a short debrief to reflect on the journey: what worked, what didn’t, and what can be carried forward.
• Acknowledge each person’s contribution. It doesn’t have to be grand, just real.
• Invite feedback before people transition to new roles or projects.

Think of a team that just wrapped up a major product launch. The pressure is gone, the celebration’s fading, and now everyone’s heading in different directions. This is the moment to pause, recognize the shared effort, and leave things on a strong note.

When done with care, adjourning isn’t just an ending. It’s a chance to reinforce growth, leave people with clarity, and mark the close of one chapter before the next begins.

Why These Stages Matter

Understanding how teams evolve isn’t just a management theory, it’s a practical way to lead better, collaborate smarter, and support people through the ups and downs of real work.

Each stage—forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning—brings its own challenges and shifts. When you recognize them, you stop seeing tension or silence as signs something’s wrong. You start seeing them as part of the process.

Leading with this mindset helps in more ways than one:

• It prevents small misunderstandings from growing into bigger issues.
• It boosts morale, because people feel understood and supported.
• It leads to stronger collaboration and better outcomes, over time.

Most of all, it helps you lead with empathy. You’re not just reacting, you’re guiding. You know when to lean in, when to give space, and how to keep things moving without forcing it.

Because the truth is, great teams aren’t built overnight. They grow stage by stage—with intention, trust, and a bit of patience. And when you understand the journey, you’re better equipped to walk through it alongside your team.

Final Thoughts

Bruce Tuckman’s model is a simple reminder that strong teams don’t just appear, they grow. One stage at a time. From the early uncertainty of forming to the steady confidence of performing, each phase has something to teach us about how people come together and get things done.

For leaders, the key is flexibility. What works in one stage might not work in the next. Supporting a team during storming looks very different from leading one that’s already performing. But when you understand where your team is, you’re better equipped to meet them there: with clarity, empathy, and the right kind of guidance.

This isn’t just a helpful framework, it’s something you can apply every day. Teams that grow with intention tend to collaborate more smoothly, make faster decisions, and deliver better results. This model gives you a map, and that map helps you build more than just output—it helps you build a team that works well together, for the long run.