Stages of Group DevelopmentBruce W. Tuckman first described the (then) four stages of group development in 1965, soon after leaving Princeton. Looking at the behavior of small groups in a variety of environments, he recognized the distinct phases they go through, and suggested they need to experience all four stages before they achieve maximum effectiveness. He refined and developed the model in 1977 (in conjunction with Mary Ann Jensen) with the addition of a fifth stage. While every group is different, knowing the stages that groups typically experience gives us a better idea of the type of behavior to expect as our teams develop and allows us to focus our energies on what is really important at each stage of team development.
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