Group Development - The Tuckman Model

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The Tuckman model

In his article, ‘Developmental Sequence in Small Groups’ from 1965, Bruce Tuckman introduced the phrase ‘forming, storming, norming and performing’ to describe how groups are developed [1: link]. These four stages of group development were based on Tuckman’s analysis of empirical research studies [1: link]. In his research, Tuckman explains how as the group progresses through the four stages, it changes from being a collection of random individuals to a high performing group - i.e. a group that effectively works together to fulfil its full potential [link]. The group development progress is visualised in Figure [X].

Bruce Tuckman’s Group Development Stages - 1965[link]

Forming

At this first stage, group members start to get acquainted with one another and try to get an understanding of the group’s intended purpose and what they would be expected to do to reach the group’s common goals [2 p. 376]. Because of the level of uncertainty, the forming stage is also “characterized by the emergence of leadership” [link, p. 74], where group members rely on a group leader “to define the directions the group will pursue” [link, p. 74].

Storming

A lot of nice words

Norming

A lot of nice words

Storming

A lot of nice words

Performing

A lot of nice words