Tuckman

Bruce W. Tuckman was an American psychologist best known for his work on group development. Born in 1938 and active in the mid-20th century, he proposed a framework describing how teams evolve as they work together. In 1965, Tuckman published a four-stage model of group development: forming, storming, norming, and performing. In forming, members meet and establish ground rules; storming involves interpersonal tensions and conflicts; norming sees the emergence of cohesion, shared norms, and improved collaboration; performing is characterized by functional and productive performance with less friction.

In 1977, Tuckman and Mary Ann Jensen added a fifth stage, adjourning, describing the group’s dissolution after objectives are completed or the team ends. The model has become foundational in organizational behavior, project management, and team facilitation, helping practitioners diagnose group dynamics and tailor interventions to move groups toward higher performance.

The model has faced various criticisms. It is often presented as a linear progression, but groups may cycle between stages or bypass them entirely. Factors such as culture, task type, leadership, and group size can influence dynamics in ways not captured by the original sequence. Despite these caveats, the Tuckman model remains widely used as a conceptual tool for understanding and managing collaborative work.