Forming, storming, norming, performing is a team development model that explains how groups often move from first introductions to more confident, productive teamwork. It gives team leaders a useful way to read what is happening in a team, rather than treating every disagreement or delay as a separate problem.
For HR teams and managers planning a team building event, the model is helpful because it links activities to the team’s real stage of development. A newly merged team may need clarity and trust before competition. A team stuck in conflict may need facilitated communication, not just a fun afternoon away from the office.
This guide explains each stage in plain English and shows how to use the model when planning away days, team building activities and corporate events.
What forming, storming, norming and performing means
The model is usually associated with psychologist Bruce Tuckman, who described four stages of group development: forming, storming, norming and performing. Later versions commonly include a fifth stage, adjourning, which covers what happens when a project team finishes or a temporary group disbands.
The simple version is this: teams do not usually become effective just because capable people have been put in the same room. They need time to understand the purpose of the group, test ways of working, agree standards and build enough trust to make good decisions together.
That matters in the workplace because tension is not always a sign that a team is failing. Some disagreement is part of how people find their roles, challenge assumptions and make better decisions. The leader’s job is to stop normal tension turning into personal conflict or avoidance.
The stages are not always neat or linear. A team can move back into storming after a restructure, a new manager, a demanding deadline or a change in strategy. Hybrid teams can also revisit earlier stages when people have fewer informal chances to read tone, build familiarity and resolve small misunderstandings.
Forming: give people clarity before you ask for trust
Forming is the early stage. People are often polite, cautious and unsure how much to contribute. They may be keen to make a good impression, but they are also looking for signals about who makes decisions, what is expected and whether it is safe to speak openly.
For managers, the priority is clarity. A team in forming needs a clear purpose, practical boundaries and a straightforward explanation of how work will be shared. If people leave the first team meeting with different assumptions, the team is likely to create avoidable friction later.
Useful questions at this stage include:
- What is the team here to achieve?
- Which decisions sit with the leader, and which sit with the group?
- What does good communication look like for this team?
- What do people need to know about each other’s roles, workloads and constraints?
Team building at the forming stage should help people learn about one another without making them feel exposed. Good options include collaborative problem-solving tasks, light competitive challenges, shared planning sessions and structured icebreakers that have a clear purpose. If you are planning a first away day for a new department, keep the brief accessible and avoid activities that reward the loudest voices too early.
Planning for a newly formed team?
If your group is still getting to know each other, choose activities that build confidence before adding heavy competition or complex tasks.
Storming: treat friction as information, not failure
Storming is the stage many leaders worry about. People begin to test boundaries. Different working styles become visible. Frustration can appear around priorities, pace, decision-making or perceived fairness. In meetings, this might show up as interruptions, silence, side conversations or repeated challenges to agreed plans.
The risk is not the existence of disagreement. The risk is unmanaged disagreement. Acas research published in the current workplace context found that conflict is common in Great Britain, and that discussion with a line manager or directly with the other person is one of the main ways people try to resolve it. That supports a practical point for leaders: do not wait until a problem needs a formal process before creating space for honest conversation.
During storming, leaders should make the work visible. Clarify priorities, name decision routes and separate the issue from the person. If two colleagues disagree about how a project should be delivered, the team needs a way to compare options against the objective, not a contest of personalities.
Team building can help here, but only when it is designed carefully. A competitive activity may be useful if it includes reflection on communication and roles. A facilitated challenge can reveal patterns such as one person taking over, quieter colleagues stepping back or the group rushing into action before agreeing a plan. The value comes from the debrief, where the team can connect those patterns to real work.
Where conflict involves bullying, discrimination, harassment, health concerns or a formal workplace complaint, it should be handled through the appropriate workplace route. Informal team building is not a substitute for proper HR support, management action or employment advice. Official guidance from Acas is a sensible place to start for UK employers dealing with workplace conflict.
Norming: turn good intentions into working habits
Norming begins when the team starts to settle. People understand the purpose more clearly, roles feel less uncertain and the group begins to develop shared habits. There may still be disagreement, but it is easier to discuss because the team has more trust and a clearer sense of how decisions are made.
This is where many teams miss an opportunity. After a positive away day or a good project review, people often agree that communication needs to improve, meetings should be sharper or handovers need more structure. Unless those intentions become specific habits, the team usually drifts back to old patterns.
A useful norm is practical and observable. For example, “we respect each other” is too vague on its own. “We send pre-reading at least two working days before a decision meeting” is easier to follow. “We raise blockers by Wednesday lunchtime rather than waiting for Friday reporting” gives the team a shared rhythm.
Team building at the norming stage should help the group agree how it wants to work. This could involve facilitated planning, values translated into behaviours, communication exercises or a collaborative challenge where the team designs its own rules before starting. The activity should finish with a small number of commitments that someone owns after the event.
If your team is planning an away day around this stage, it can help to pair the model with practical event planning. NewWave Events has a guide to corporate away day ideas for UK teams that can help you think through format, venue and activity choice.
Need habits that last beyond the away day?
For teams moving into norming, NewWave can help design activities with a clear debrief, practical commitments and follow-up points for managers.
Performing: keep challenge and autonomy in balance
Performing is the stage leaders usually want to reach. The team has enough clarity, trust and shared practice to get on with the work. People can challenge each other without every disagreement becoming personal. The leader does not need to control every detail because the team has a stronger sense of ownership.
Performing does not mean everything is easy. High-performing teams still experience pressure, competing deadlines and difficult decisions. The difference is that they have better ways to handle them. They know when to move quickly, when to pause, when to ask for support and when to challenge a plan.
For leaders, the main risk at this stage is neglect. A performing team can be left alone for too long, especially if it seems to need less management attention. Over time, that can create hidden workload pressure, uneven contribution or frustration that people do not raise because the team has a reputation for coping.
Team building for a performing team should not feel like remedial work. It can be more ambitious, with activities that stretch collaboration, strategy, creativity or leadership under time pressure. Outdoor challenges, multi-activity events, creative briefs and charity team challenges can all work well when the team already has a decent base of trust.
The aim is to keep the team sharp without manufacturing conflict. A well-designed activity gives people a different context in which to practise decision-making, delegation and communication, then brings the learning back to day-to-day work.
How to use the model when planning a team building event
The most useful question is not “which activity is popular?” It is “what does this team need next?” Forming, storming, norming and performing gives you a practical way to answer that question before you book a venue, choose an activity or set the agenda.
Start by identifying the team’s current stage. A new graduate intake, a newly merged department and a long-established leadership team will not need the same format. A team in forming may need low-pressure collaboration and introductions. A team in storming may need skilled facilitation and activities that reveal communication patterns safely. A team in norming may need to agree working principles. A performing team may benefit from a more demanding shared challenge.
Then match the event design to the outcome. If the outcome is trust, do not choose an activity that makes half the group feel uncomfortable. If the outcome is clearer communication, build in time for reflection rather than packing the schedule with back-to-back tasks. If the outcome is energy after a demanding period, choose something that gives people a genuine break while still encouraging connection.
It is also worth thinking about what happens after the event. The strongest team building days leave managers with something practical to continue: a team agreement, a set of communication habits, clearer roles, or a shared reference point for future projects. That follow-up is what helps a good day out become useful at work.
NewWave Events designs and delivers team building activities and corporate events across the UK. If you are comparing formats, the team building activities guide gives a broader view of options for different group sizes, objectives and settings.
A practical way to read the stage your team is in
Use these stages as a diagnostic tool before planning a team day. The aim is not to label people. It is to choose the right support for the team’s current behaviour.
Forming
People are new to each other or to the task. Focus on purpose, roles, introductions and psychological safety before expecting open challenge.
Storming
Differences in priorities, style or authority become visible. Focus on facilitation, early conversations, clear decision routes and constructive disagreement.
Norming
The team starts to agree how work should happen. Focus on shared standards, meeting habits, communication rhythms and realistic commitments.
Performing
The team works with more confidence and autonomy. Focus on challenge, stretch, recognition and keeping pressure visible before it becomes a problem.
Adjourning
A project, event team or temporary group comes to an end. Focus on closure, lessons learned, appreciation and handover so useful learning is not lost.
Plan a team building event that fits where your team is now
NewWave Events can help you choose activities, formats and venues that match your team’s current stage, whether you are bringing a new group together, rebuilding trust or giving a strong team a fresh challenge.
Tell us what your team needs to achieve, and we’ll help shape a practical event for your people, group size and location.
