1 Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning

Teams don’t just start working well together right from the beginning. When they are first put together there is often a period when members of the team feel uncomfortable. You may be able to think of occasions when you were part of a team and felt that people were not working together well (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Un-parliamentary behaviour by politicians

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This image shows a group of men all dressed in suits fighting with each other.

Figure 1 Un-parliamentary behaviour by politicians

You may have witnessed arguments taking place as people jostled for power, or disagreements taking place concerning how the team should move forward. It may be that your team never moved past this point, which has led to your view of working in a team as one that comes with a health warning and shudder of fear.