Introduction
Teams rarely develop linearly, so when group dynamics shift, employees look to senior leadership for guidance.
If you’re an HR manager, you’ll be required to guide your teams through systematic changes. These can be driven by factors such as restructures, leadership shuffles, or even new teams being added to the company.
How you steer your teams through these changes is crucial to their success and effectiveness, and you can only do that with the right framework.
Without a framework in place as these shifts take place, HR leaders tend to focus on normal team friction as a larger issue or even fail to notice when a team actually needs more support to progress.
That’s where Tuckman’s Five Stages of Development model comes in.
Tuckman’s model is exactly the kind of practical methodology that is covered in CIPD study, particularly in the CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma for Developing HR Professionals
Understanding the five stages of this tool means you’ll never be caught off guard by a team that suddenly raises friction, or perhaps one that’s ready to be given more authority.
Read on to find out how you can apply Tuckman’s Model to lead your team through every stage as an HR manager, with confidence.
What is Tuckman’s Model?
Developed in 1965 by Bruce Tuckman, but adapted in 1977, Tuckman’s model consists of five stages of development. The five stages are:
- Forming
- Storming
- Norming
- Performing
- Adjourning
Each stage requires a different kind of leadership to move the team forward, since most teams don’t develop in a straight line.
Throughout the rest of this article, we’ll outline what each stage of development in Tuckman’s model looks like in HR practice and how to lead your team supportively and confidently through it.
1. Forming: Laying the Foundations
In the “forming” stage of Tuckman’s model, an HR leader lays the groundwork for the teams they support. This stage might occur when a newly formed team is regrouping after a restructure, or there’s a group of new hires in the organisation.
During this stage, team members are polite, a bit cautious, and unsure of each other, and no expectations are clear yet.
This is often the stage when employees look to a leader for guidance rather than acting independently or taking initiative.
Because there is no conflict within the team yet, this doesn’t mean things are going smoothly; it just means the team hasn’t faced a challenge yet.
As an HR leader navigating this stage, there are ways in which you can assert yourself confidently among your team from day one, and these are:
Setting clear expectations early: For example, roles, goals, and different ways of working.
Build psychological trust and safety from the start: This creates a feeling among team members that they can speak up later.
Be visibly present and available for your team: As mentioned, teams look to leadership more during this stage than any other; make yourself available so they feel supported.
Within any organisation, though, this calm doesn’t last for long.
2. Storming: Managing Potential Conflicts
In the “storming” phase of Tuckman’s model, the initial politeness wears off. Colleagues start to assert differences in working styles, their opinions, or their individual priorities.
These changes inevitably start to develop into points of friction – how you react to this as an HR leader is crucial at this stage.
When disagreements arise, or there’s a fall in team cohesion, this fragments the “forming” stage’s much calmer beginning, but don’t worry, this is the stage to do something about it.
Tensions in a team don’t necessarily mean the team isn’t working out; they’re a natural part of development, and most teams that miss out on real friction probably haven’t been tested yet.
As an HR leader experiencing this stage and trying to manage the potential conflicts, there are a few effective practices you can implement strategically:
Mediate rather than shut the conflict down: Aim to guide the disagreement productively, rather than suppress it.
Keep the team focused on shared goals: If team members have something to work for collectively, the friction won’t turn personal.
Model calm, confident leadership for the rest of your team: Developing teams are impressionable and want to learn from your management style; remember they will take cues from how you respond to the tension at hand.
Navigating conflict strategically at this level is a skill many HR leaders develop through advanced study such as the CIPD Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Strategic People Management.
If you catch friction early and handle it confidently, your team will naturally find its rhythm.
3. Norming: Encouraging Momentum
In the “norming” stage, the team starts to find its rhythm – roles are clearer, the trust between leadership and team members is building, and collaboration generally becomes easier to achieve because individuals understand how they each work.
This is the stage where some HR leaders tend to relax fully, but it isn’t the end of the journey. Like any good habit, it has to be established and maintained to stay effective.
As an HR leader, how you make sure your teams maintain this momentum is important, and there are a few ways you can do this:
Reinforcing positive patterns as they occur: Identify what’s working within your teams; don’t just press on.
Begin to step back slightly: This gives the team more autonomy, rather than the leader controlling every decision.
Keep communication channels open: Trust is still being tested and isn’t fully established, so make sure that communication with your team doesn’t slip.
Although the stages aren’t necessarily complete yet, with the right foundations in place, they’re close to hitting full performance.
4. Performing: Taking A Step Back To Let Teams Lead
During the “performing” stage of Tuckman’s model, the team operates more effectively without direct manager oversight.
As their HR leader, you need less oversight because the group can solve problems and make decisions without constant input from leadership.
A team at the “performing” stage might look settled, established, and consistently hitting targets with minimal oversight from their leader.
Reaching this stage as an HR leader is a big milestone, as many HR professionals in leadership positions work hardest to get there.
However, a high-performing team doesn’t necessarily mean no leadership is needed at all; it just means a shift in what leadership looks like, for example:
Shifting from directing a team to enabling: Help the team remove blockers rather than managing their tasks.
Keep investing in your team’s development: High-performing teams can still grow, so it’s important to recognise that you should guide them through this.
Anticipate complacency: Sometimes, high-performing teams can slip back a stage if circumstances change, such as when a new member is added, or new pressure arises.
Leading a high-performing team effectively often comes down to the same principles that are covered in The Scarf Model. Tuckman’s and The Scarf Model are powerful tools for HR leaders when used in tandem, and when applied successfully, create the right conditions for people to thrive with less oversight, not more.
Even high-performing teams eventually reach a point of finality, whether that means a project is wrapping up or a restructure is taking place.
5. Adjourning: Completing the Circle
In the final stage of Tuckman’s model, “adjourning”, the team disbands. At this point, the project has ended, a restructure has taken place, or members have moved on to new roles.
This stage can sometimes be overlooked, but it’s a distinct and important phase in its own right, since poorly managed endings can leave people feeling unsettled or undervalued even after periods of high success.
To complete the cycle as an HR leader effectively, you could implement the following within your disbanding team:
Manage the transition carefully: Communicate clearly what’s happening and why.
Capture learnings before the team disbands: Summarise the team’s learnings from their journey together to ensure their good practice isn’t lost.
Support individual team members moving on: Support them even after the cycle has finished, whether they’re moving onto a new team, project, or externally.
As an HR leader, how you complete the five stages reflects your ability to lead a team. The “adjourning” stage often separates a good HR leader from an effective, confident strategic one.
Final Thoughts
Tuckman’s model is often illustrated as a cycle, meaning that teams rarely move through each of the stages in a perfectly straight line and can slip back a stage after a significant change such as a new team member, new leader, or new pressure in place – and that’s completely normal.
In this way, it’s important to remember that Tuckman’s framework is a tool HR leaders can return to at whatever stage their team is at, rather than a one-off checklist.
Whether you’re already in a position of leadership and actively guiding teams through these stages or contemplating formal study to develop this kind of capability further, CIPD Level 5 and CIPD Level 7 both cover the practical people management skills behind everything mentioned above. The right level depends on where you are in your career.
Unsure which CIPD level is the right one for you? Take a look at our full range of courses to find the qualification that best fits where you are in your HR career right now.
