Lessons · Project management · the stages of a team
Forming, storming, norming, performing: a new team is not a team yet
A team passes through forming (polite and unsure), storming (friction as roles get sorted), norming (agreed ways of working) and performing (getting on with it), then adjourning when the project ends.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
Week three, two engineers argue in every meeting and the sponsor asks whether the team is broken. It is storming, on schedule. Knowing that lets you referee the argument toward a working agreement instead of splitting the team, which would restart the whole cycle.
How to think about it
Name the stage before choosing what to do. Forming needs direction: tell them the goal and the roles. Storming needs refereeing: let the disagreements be about the work, and settle them. Norming needs the agreements written down. Performing needs you out of the way.
Worked example
Week 1: everyone agrees with everythingForming. Give clear direction; nobody will ask.
Week 3: the two engineers argue about the design in every meetingStorming. Get the argument onto a whiteboard and end it with a decision.
Week 5: a written coding standard and a Tuesday reviewNorming. The agreements exist; hold the team to them.
Week 8: the work is coming out and the meetings are shortPerforming. Remove obstacles, and otherwise leave them alone.
Your turn
Write the stage where the friction is normal and needs refereeing rather than surgery.
comes after forming and before norming.
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Adding a new member and expecting performing to continue. A new person restarts the cycle, at least a little. Plan a dip.