What Happens At This Stage
This is sometimes referred to as a team’s childhood. This is the first stage of development. Team members might feel excited, anxious, and/or concerned. At this stage, team members may have no clear idea of what to expect or what they will accomplish.

What You Can Do
Your role as team leader will be influential, especially since you will likely make many of the decisions at this stage. Being a positive role model is important throughout the process, but is especially critical at this stage.

It is important to help your team members get to know one another so they can begin feeling comfortable together. Training specific to the needs of the team and the cultures involved can often be helpful. Something as simple as a cultural-themed potluck can also increase awareness and encourage conversation about each team member’s background.

You can also help the team frame their goals, decide on process tools, and set norms. It’s important to set expectations about communication, deadlines, and co-operation. Be aware that some cultures prefer gentler, verbal agreements, while others focus on ironclad contracts. Also keep in mind the difference between high and low context cultures and their different focuses. Your approach will depend on your team members and on your organizational culture.

What Happens At This Stage
This stage is often referred to as team adolescence. As members of the group work together, they become more comfortable voicing their own opinion and they may not agree with either the team leader or the other members of the team. There is often disagreement and conflict, with little cliques forming and alternate goals being suggested. Members of the team notice how different other members are and a pecking order may be established. This can be especially obvious when the team is made up of two opposing cultures.

What You Can Do
This can be a difficult time, particularly if turf wars develop. You are an even more important role model now, communicating with all team members, reminding them of how valuable each of their roles is, and helping them settle their disagreements in a civilized fashion that respects the cultures of everyone involved. All the while, you are helping them get to know one another better and coaching them so they become more skilled at their job.

Additional training focused on team building might be appropriate. It can also be valuable to remind team members of the process tools and norms that they previously agreed upon.

What Happens At This Stage
This stage is often referred to as young adulthood for a team. Eventually, if you continue to encourage, support, and communicate with your team they will work out their differences and begin to see that they are quite a bit alike after all. Now they begin to enjoy being together and they start having more fun — so much fun that occasionally they may forget about the work they are to get done.

What You Can Do
Keep an eye on the team to make sure that everyone is involved in the norming process and that everyone’s values are being respected. Social activities can often emphasize cultural divides so it’s important to encourage diversity and open-mindedness.

From a management perspective, this is a good time to move away from being quite so hands-on and begin to delegate tasks. Cross-training can also be useful to encourage further skill development.

What Happens At This Stage
Now the team is beginning to mature. They have skills, know their own strengths and limitations, and have a good deal of problem-solving abilities. By now they have figured out (perhaps with your help) who does what to make the team effective and they work well together.

What You Can Do
The challenge for you now is to keep them from becoming bored. You will use your delegating and coaching skills to keep people engaged and active.

Remember that the team still needs to feel appreciated. Encourage them to do some self-evaluation and some task or team evaluation to see if there are things they can do even better. Continuous suggestions for improvement should come from the group.

A word of warning: Group dynamics are never static. If a new member joins the team, or their roles change, you may find your group right back in the storming stage again.

What Happens At This Stage
When the group has formally finished working together, or when things are winding down naturally, the group will disband. Celebrate successes and achievements, and then bring the project to a close. Alternatively, if this was not a successful team, the group should evaluate what went wrong, and use the lessons for later projects.

What You Can Do
At this stage, you can help team members identify lessons learned and their next steps. It can be helpful to let team members know what is coming next for them, or to involve them in that decision.