Leadership Behaviors for the Stages of Group Development During the Great Resignation

Sarah Whitfield • January 16, 2022

Bruce Tuckeman’s stage of group development is an explanation of behavioral patterns people on a team go through as they learn to work together. There are several variations on the model, but most commonly the stage are defined as:



  • Forming - People are trying to figure out their roles and purpose in the group.
  • Storming - Conflict may arise as members of the team learn how each other work, hierarchy forms and individual differences emerge.
  • Norming - The team establishes behavior, role, and value standards.
  • Performing - The team performing at its highlights potential.
  • Adjourning - The team’s time together comes to an end.


In Magic in the Room #70: Stages of Team Development, Hannah, Luke, and Ben discussed specific strategies for helping teams stay effective when the group’s makeup and tasks are constantly changing. The changes we are seeing now in the way people work mean that teams are not necessarily stable. They change members and tasks often. During times of change leaders must be particularly aware of the stage their team is in, and what their team needs to perform at a high level. 


Here is one simple thing you can do for each stage of team development to ensure high performance.


Forming - Be clear about the ground rules. Make sure everyone on the team knows what is ok and what is not. Many leaders fail at this stage because they don’t give enough direction. Leaders may desire to empower their team, or they fear micromanaging, but rather than giving good guidelines the leader is absent or silent when direction is needed.


Storming - Leaders need to be comfortable with healthy conflict. Leaders must recognize that conflict is needed for high performance and may even uncover conflict that exists but no one has acknowledged. However, leaders must be aware that relational conflict is not healthy. Conflict must focus on the task and how to accomplish it, but it cannot be about people's worth or character. Leaders must be comfortable with healthy conflict while building trust to minimize relational conflict. 


Norming - Don’t get stuck in the norming stage. Leaders must constantly adjust the level of work so that performance stays high. On one hand, leaders can risk pushing a team too hard too fast and creating anxiety.  On the other hand, not challenging the team enough can cause people to become bored and disengaged. You must be constantly aware of the team's current state and adjust tasks and work level as needed. 


Performing - Celebrate! Leaders must celebrate what is going well, capture best practices and replicate them. Keep people engaged by giving meaningful recognition and feedback.


Adjourning - As a team disbands or changes membership, be sure and give people time to process the experience, celebrate what was accomplished, and learn new best practices for their next team. Conducting a retrospective or debrief is critical to ending well. 


Leaders who are aware of these stages can respond effectively no matter what the team's situation is. Spend some time reflecting on the teams you lead. What stage are they in? How do you need to adjust your approach based on that stage? 


For an in depth discussion of these stages listen to Magic in the Room #70: Stages of Team Development on your favorite podcast player, or below.

Magic in the Room #200: How to Lead through Polarities

By Sarah Whitfield • May 5, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke and Hannah explore the concept of polarities. Tensions like purpose and performance, stability and change, or accountability and grace that are often mistaken for problems to solve rather than dynamics to manage. Drawing on insights from Barry Johnson’s work, they explain how these opposing forces are interdependent and must be balanced over time to achieve sustained success. Through practical examples and personal reflections, they show how over-relying on one side of a polarity leads to predictable “shadow sides” such as stagnation, chaos, inefficiency, or burnout, while effective leadership requires recognizing where you are on the cycle and intentionally recalibrating. The episode emphasizes that many recurring organizational frustrations are not failures, but signals of imbalance, and offers a more nuanced approach to leadership. One that replaces rigid either/or thinking with flexible both/and awareness to improve decision-making, team dynamics, and long-term performance.

Magic in the Room #199: The Power of Mattering

By Sarah Whitfield • April 7, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke Freeman, Hannah Bratterud, and Chris Province dive into the concept of “mattering,” inspired by Zach Mercurio’s work, and explore why it is a foundational driver of engagement, performance, and culture in organizations. They challenge leaders to move beyond assuming people matter to actively ensuring individuals feel that they matter by being valued and by contributing value to a shared purpose. The conversation highlights how mattering differs from belonging, why it cannot be replaced by perks or efficiency, and how leadership behaviors like attention, recognition, and presence directly shape whether people feel seen, heard, and understood. Through examples ranging from workplace dynamics to broader societal trends like social disconnection, they argue that disengagement, conflict, and even poor performance are symptoms of a mattering deficit. Ultimately, they position mattering not as a soft concept, but as a measurable, actionable leadership responsibility that underpins trust, resilience, and long-term success.