Tuckman’s Team Development Wheel, Revisited — Part 3: The Norming Stage

There is a moment in every team’s evolution when individual pride gives way to collective purpose.

It’s not always dramatic in real life - but a few of my favorite films have captured it beautifully.

In Miracle, directed by Gavin O’Connor and starring Kurt Russell as Coach Herb Brooks, the U.S. Olympic hockey team is stuck in conflict and ego until Coach Brooks pushes them relentlessly after a disappointing game. Exhausted and frustrated, the players finally stop thinking like separate college rivals. When Brooks asks “Who do you play for?”, team captain Mike Eruzione answers, “I play for the United States.” This is a pivotal moment when the leader acknowledges a greater purpose to their playing.

Similarly, in Remember the Titans, directed by Boaz Yakin and starring Denzel Washington as Coach Herman Boone, true Norming begins during a nighttime practice when Gerry Bertier, the white captain, confronts a white teammate who refuses to block for the Black captain, Julius Campbell. Julius then challenges his own teammate in return. Each leader steps forward for the other.

That confrontation marks the first time the team acts for one another, not just beside one another. They begin to perform not as factions, but as a single unit.

These scenes reflect exactly what happens during the Norming stage in real teams: the choice to be a team - knowing that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

The Norming stage marks the first real breakthrough in team maturity. It’s when coordination becomes smoother, conflict becomes constructive, and members begin holding each other accountable - not because the coach mandates it, but because the team now expects it of itself.

Individual independence evolves into interdependence.

Understanding the Norming Stage: The Moment a Team “Chooses” to Be a Team

Norming is the stage where:

• The team recommits to working collaboratively

• Members rely more on one another’s strengths

• Trust begins to solidify

• Processes feel more natural and consistent

• The team focuses on achieving shared goals

• Communication improves, and shorthand emerges

• Differences in style or personality become assets, not irritants

This choice to act as a team is not simultaneous. Some embrace it early, others need time, coaching, feedback, or peer pressure. But once the team crosses this threshold, momentum increases and resistance decreases.

They revisit their charter, check their behavior against their commitments, and begin establishing true accountability - especially for members who previously coasted, dominated discussions, or avoided responsibility.

Several contemporary studies shed light on why Norming is such a transformative stage:

1. Identity Fusion and Shared Mental Models

Research in organizational psychology shows that high-performing teams develop shared mental models - common understandings of goals, processes, and expectations. Norming is the stage where these shared models form, allowing the group to coordinate efficiently and intuitively.

2. Social Cohesion and Prosocial Accountability

Teams begin holding each other accountable not out of compliance, but out of mutual respect and shared commitment. Harvard’s Amy Edmondson notes that teams with strong norms feel safe to challenge ideas, offer feedback, and take risks because trust is now relational, not positional.

3. Strength Recognition and Role Optimization

Studies from Gallup and the Center for Creative Leadership show that teams achieve more when they explicitly recognize each other's strengths and adapt roles accordingly. Norming is the stage where this natural specialization begins.

4. Conflict Shifts from Personal to Productive

Norming doesn’t eliminate conflict - it reframes it. Teams now debate ideas, not identities.
This shift is a hallmark of psychological safety and emotional intelligence at work.

What Makes Norming Fragile

Norming is a breakthrough, but it’s still vulnerable. Teams can regress into Storming when:

• Membership changes

• Major tasks shift

• Organizational changes create uncertainty

• Unresolved conflicts resurface

• The coach becomes over-involved or absent

Disrupting the team too early - by adding new members or shifting work expectations - can stall or undo progress. Norming must stabilize before new variables are introduced (pro tip: don’t add new members, goals, etc. if your team has entered the norming zone, let them get a handle on this stage first).

Strategies for Advancing the Team Past the Norming Stage

Here is how leaders and coaches can support momentum without interrupting the delicate balance forming within the group.

1. Shift the Coaching Style from Directive to Supportive

This is the first major coaching pivot in the development cycle. During Norming, the coach should:

• Ask thought-provoking, guiding questions

• Provide supportive - not corrective - feedback

• Encourage reflection and self-regulation

• Affirm progress and highlight effective behaviors

This reflects a move into the Supporting style:

• Listening more

• Asking questions

• Attending fewer meetings

• Letting the team troubleshoot independently

2. Step Back Intentionally and Allow the Team to Stand on Its Own

“Periodically disappear” is not abandonment - it’s empowerment. Teams grow when they:

• Solve problems without immediate guidance

• Make decisions independently

• Navigate disagreements with confidence

• Experience success because of their own coordination

A supportive coach knows when to leave space for the team to rise.

3. Address Members Who Haven’t Fully “Chosen” the Team

Norming is uneven. Some members lag behind due to:

• Habitual independence

• Preference for control

• Discomfort with shared responsibility

• Skill gaps

• Unresolved concerns

Peer feedback is powerful during this phase. Encouraging direct, constructive conversations helps bring everyone into alignment.

4. Avoid Over-Functioning as a Coach

One of the biggest risks in Norming is the coach unintentionally stunting growth by stepping in too soon or too often. Teams strengthen through:

• Struggle

• Negotiation

• Shared workload

• Trial and error

• Self-correction

Over-functioning reverses these gains, pushing the team backward into dependency.

The Psychological Shift of Norming: From “Me” to “We”

Norming represents a profound mindset change: The team becomes more important than the individual agenda.

Members experience:

• Greater mutual respect

• More consistent follow-through

• Willingness to ask for help

• Openness to giving and receiving feedback

• Increased trust in the process

• Shared ownership of outcomes

This is where the team becomes not just functional, but cohesive.

Norming is the first time the team experiences stability, clarity, and cohesion. It’s when members begin to trust the process, lean on one another, and value their differences instead of resisting them.

Handled well, Norming propels the team toward the Performing stage - where autonomy, excellence, and innovation emerge naturally.

In the next and final installment of this series, we’ll explore Stage 4: Performing, where teams reach peak collaboration, resilience, and strategic impact.