A white water rafting team completes its course. Image by JulianOMarini courtesy Pixabay.com.
Probably the best-known and most widely used group development model is Tuckman's four-stage model — also known as "Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing." [Tuckman 1965] It was later enhanced to add a fifth stage, "Adjourning." [Tuckman & Jensen 1977] The model is broadly useful, but there are some tricky bits. One of those is understanding how Storming works for task-oriented work groups. For a brief review of Tuckman and Jensen's model, see "Tuckman's Model and Joint Leadership Teams," Point Lookout for January 18, 2023.
Some have proposed that a useful metaphor for Storming in group development is a stretch of white water in a rafting trip down a river. The metaphor does have some value. And it can also be misleading, because there are differences between a task-oriented work group in the Storming stage and a group of white water rafters heading down an angry, turbulent river. In this post I explore just a few of those differences.
I begin by clarifying what I mean by task-oriented work group. Task-oriented work groups are variants of what Tuckman called groups that operate in a natural-group setting. There are differences between a
task-oriented work group in the
Storming stage and a group of
white water rafters heading
down an angry, turbulent riverFor Tuckman, natural groups included what we today would call, for example, task forces. More examples: teams, project teams, red teams, review panels, boards, or even just work groups. Tuckman explains, "Presidential advisory councils and industrial groups represent examples of natural groups." With this definition in hand, let's compare the Storming stage of development of a task-oriented work group to what happens in a group engaged in the adventure of a white water rafting trip.
| In White-Water Rafting… | In Task-Oriented Work Groups… |
|---|---|
Rafting guides know very well what's up ahead. On any given trip, the guide might have taken that very trip just last week, or yesterday, or even this morning. | The rafting-trip metaphor is misleading about risk. Organizational leaders — executives, managers, project managers, and scrum masters — might know more about what lies ahead than some group members do, but unlike the rafting guide, they can't see the future as clearly or in enough detail to eliminate nearly all risk. |
The stretches of white water — the metaphorical "challenges" — almost always occur in the same order and with unchanged spacing between them. When changes do occur, they usually occur in response to well-understood weather conditions, or on a time scale much longer than the time scale of the rafting trip. | Knowing the order of the challenges we face is an invaluable aid to planners. They use that information to arrange for the right resources to be available at the right times. Although we might have this kind of information for a rafting trip, we certainly don't have it for most of the projects we work on. |
People very rarely join the rafting group in the middle of the trip. | Many task-oriented work groups must deal with the consequences of people joining the team in mid-task, either to replace someone who was suddenly assigned to duties elsewhere, or to provide skills that are needed for a specific subtask, or to provide an extra pair of hands. |
People very rarely intentionally get out of the raft in the middle of the trip. | In many organizations, people belong to several teams. And they cycle in and out depending on what work is scheduled for a particular time period. For example, specialists might work intensively with Team A in July and August, and then move to Team B to help Team B with something else. In effect, with respect to Team A, they become inactive until January, when the work they did in summer is due to be tested as an element of a larger system that won't be ready for testing until January. In short, team rosters can be unstable, not only by chance, but also by plan. |
In white water rafting, there are no do-overs. The raft goes in one direction only and that's downstream. | We sometimes repeat work, when we discover something that requires it, or when our objectives change, or when requirements change, or when schedules change. |
Two raft crews never decide to merge into one crew and then get rid of one raft and fire one of the raft guides. | Project teams, departments, and entire enterprises sometimes join together and reorganize. These structural changes really have no parallel in rafting trips, except possibly in emergency rescues. But they have dramatic impact on group development in organizations. |
Last words
Metaphors might seem at first to provide useful insights about the systems they represent. But take care not to identify too closely with a metaphor. 
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More about Tuckman's sequence of small group development
Reaching Agreements in Technological Contexts [December 7, 2022]- Reaching consensus in technological contexts presents special challenges. Problems can arise from interactions between the technological elements of the issue at hand, and the social dynamics of the group addressing that issue. Here are three examples.
The Politics of Forming Joint Leadership Teams [January 4, 2023]- Some teams, business units, or enterprises are led not by individuals, but by joint leadership teams of two or more. They face special risks that arise from both the politics of the joint leadership team and the politics of the organization hosting it.
- Tuckman's Model and Joint Leadership Teams [January 18, 2023]
- Tuckman's model of the stages of group development, applied to Joint Leadership Teams, reveals characteristics of these teams that signal performance levels less than we hope for. Knowing what to avoid when we designate these teams is therefore useful.
- Subgrouping and Conway's Law [December 18, 2024]
- When task-oriented work groups address complex tasks, they might form subgroups to address subtasks. The structure of the subgroups and the order in which they form depend on the structure of the group's task and the sequencing of the subtasks.
The Storming Puzzle: I [December 25, 2024]- Tuckman's model of small group development, best known as "Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing," applies to today's task-oriented work groups — if we adapt our understanding of it. If we don't adapt, the model appears to conflict with reality.
The Storming Puzzle: II [January 1, 2025]- For some task-oriented work groups, Tuckman's model of small group development doesn't seem to fit. Storming seems to be absent, or Storming never ends. To learn how this illusion forms, look closely at Satir's Change Model and at what we call a task-oriented work group.
The Storming Puzzle: Six Principles [January 8, 2025]- For some task-oriented work groups, Tuckman's model of small group development seems not to fit. Storming seems to be either absent or continuous. To learn how this illusion forms, look closely at the processes that can precipitate episodes of Storming in task-oriented work groups.
The Storming Puzzle: Patterns and Antipatterns [January 15, 2025]- Tuckman's model of small group development, best known as "Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing," applies to today's task-oriented work groups, if we understand the six principles that govern transitions from one stage to another. Here are some examples.
Storming: Obstacle or Pathway? [January 22, 2025]- The Storming stage of Tuckman's model of small group development is widely misunderstood. Fighting the storms, denying they exist, or bypassing them doesn't work. Letting them blow themselves out in a somewhat-controlled manner is the path to Norming and Performing.
A Framework for Safe Storming [January 29, 2025]- The Storming stage of Tuckman's development sequence for small groups is when the group explores its frustrations and degrees of disagreement about both structure and task. Only by understanding these misalignments is reaching alignment possible. Here is a framework for this exploration.
On Shaking Things Up [February 5, 2025]- Newcomers to work groups have three tasks: to meet and get to know incumbent group members; to gain their trust; and to learn about the group's task and how to contribute to accomplishing it. General skills are necessary, but specifics are most important.
On Substituting for a Star [February 12, 2025]- Newcomers to work groups have three tasks: to meet and get to know incumbent group members; to gain their trust; and to learn about the group's task and how to contribute to accomplishing it. All can be difficult; all are made even more difficult when the newcomer is substituting for a star.
Footnotes
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- Some teams, business units, or enterprises are led not by individuals, but by joint leadership teams
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