7.3 Group Behaviour in Organisations

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📚 Main Content

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Objective 1: Development and Decision-Making

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🔷 Tuckman and Jensen's Stages of Group Development

When people are put together into a team, that team does not immediately work perfectly. It goes through a series of stages before it becomes truly effective. Bruce Tuckman first described these stages in 1965, and later (in 1977) he and Mary Ann Jensen added a fifth stage.

Think of it like a sports team just forming — at first the players don't know each other, then they argue about positions, then they settle into roles, and eventually they perform well together. When the season ends, the team disbands.

Here are the five stages:

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Stage 1 — Forming

• This is the very beginning, when group members first come together.
• Everyone is polite and cautious. People are trying to figure out what the group is about and what their role is.
• There is little real work being done yet — people are still getting to know each other.
• Members often look to a leader for direction because they feel uncertain.
• Example: A new project team at a company meeting for the first time. Everyone is on their best behaviour and nobody challenges anybody else yet.

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Stage 2 — Storming

• As the group starts working, conflict and tension begin to emerge.
• People start to disagree about how things should be done, who should be in charge, and what the goals are.
• Power struggles can develop, and some members may resist the authority of a leader.
• This is a difficult and uncomfortable stage, but it is normal and necessary. Groups that skip this stage often have unresolved tensions that resurface later.
• Example: Team members argue about whose idea to follow, or who takes on which tasks.