Team Lifecycle

---
name: team-lifecycle
description: Use when a team is transitioning — forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning — or resetting after a reorg, new member, or a stuck team. Triggers: "our team is changing", "new team member joining", "team reorg transition", "how do we reset our team", "team dissolving", "adjourning a team". Tuckman's model with practical per-phase guidance. Complements team-charter, team-check-in, stakeholder-manage.
---

# Team Lifecycle Management

Guide a team through **Forming → Storming → Norming → Performing → Adjourning**, with specific interventions per phase, plus **resets** after reorgs, new members, or scope changes.

**Why this matters:** Teams don't start at high performance and don't stay there automatically — matching support to phase is the leader's job.

## When to apply

Trigger when: a new team is created; conflict feels stuck (storming); routines settled but performance plateaued (norming); a high-performing team is disrupted (new member/leader/strategy); dissolving or downsizing (adjourning); after a reorg; a key member joins or leaves.

Skip when: the team is stably performing; the transition is purely administrative.

## The five phases

### Phase 1: Forming — "Who are we and why are we here?"
**State:** polite, tentative, leader-dependent; uncertainty about purpose, roles, boundaries.
**Leader's job:** clear purpose (use `team-charter`); reduce ambiguity; structure early interactions; be directive initially.
**Incomplete symptoms:** "I don't know what my job is"; questions over action.
**Intervention:** run `team-charter` immediately.

### Phase 2: Storming — "I don't like how you work"
**State:** conflict emerges; roles clash; sub-teams form; some withdraw, some dominate.
**Leader's job:** normalize conflict as a phase; facilitate hard conversations about roles/norms/decision rights; keep conflict task-focused; reinforce team identity.
**Symptoms:** "Bob never includes me in decisions"; side-channel complaints.
**Intervention:** `team-style-inventory` for style mismatches; `team-check-in` on roles/norms; `team-charter` reset if agreements were never clear; `read-the-room` on a contentious meeting; `feedback-frameworks` / `coaching-mode` if interpersonal.
**Do not:** avoid the conflict or wait it out — unresolved storming calcifies into permanent dysfunction.

### Phase 3: Norming — "We've figured out how to work together"
**State:** roles clarified, norms established, identity solid — but sometimes harmony over truth.
**Leader's job:** document emerged norms (`team-charter` update); guard against premature harmony; strengthen processes; introduce stretch goals.
**Symptoms:** smooth meetings — but "we don't challenge each other anymore."
**Intervention:** `team-charter` to document norms; `team-check-in` at 6–8 week cadence; challenging work to avoid plateau; `patterns-watch` — growing or coasting?

### Phase 4: Performing — "We're a high-performing team"
**State:** high autonomy, strong trust, effective processes, role flexibility.
**Leader's job:** delegate aggressively; protect from disruption; keep direction clear; plan succession; guard against burnout.
**Intervention:** `team-check-in` at 8–12 weeks (performing teams still drift); `team-close-gap`; `wins-log`; `psychological-safety` checks (safety erodes with success); `report-career-architect` for individual growth.
**Warning:** performing teams can become insular — inject new perspectives.

### Phase 5: Adjourning — "This team is done"
**State:** work completed or cancelled; members transition; emotional processing.
**Leader's job:** acknowledge the ending; celebrate achievements; help transitions; capture learnings; support closure.
**Intervention:** final `team-check-in` on "what did we learn?"; `stakeholder-manage` to archive team relationships; `decision-log`; `wins-log`; `report-career-architect` for members' next roles.

## Resets and re-entry

**Reset triggers:** new member; new leader; >20% scope shift; trust-breaking conflict; missed commitment.

**Re-entry mapping:** new member → Forming (brief Storming regression possible); new leader → Forming (re-charter); major scope change → revisit charter; major conflict → resolve, re-norm via `team-check-in`.

Major reset (new leader + new scope) = **re-forming**: run `team-charter` anew; minor: `team-check-in` with integration focus.

## Practical toolkit by phase

- **Forming:** `team-charter`; `user-profile`; `strategy-doc`; `stakeholder-register`
- **Storming:** `team-style-inventory`; `read-the-room`; `feedback-frameworks`; `coaching-mode`; `psychological-safety`; `team-check-in`
- **Norming:** `team-charter`; `team-check-in`; `patterns-watch`; `leadership-os`
- **Performing:** `team-close-gap`; `wins-log`; `report-career-architect`; `influence-without-authority`
- **Adjourning:** `wins-log`; `stakeholder-manage`; `report-career-architect`; adapted `team-check-in`

## The team lifecycle checklist

**Forming:** [ ] Purpose clear? [ ] Roles assigned? [ ] Norms explicit? [ ] First win achieved?
**Storming:** [ ] Conflict surfaced? [ ] Style differences understood? [ ] Roles clarified? [ ] Safety established?
**Norming:** [ ] Charter documented? [ ] Cadence set? [ ] Processes stable? [ ] Dissent still welcome?
**Performing:** [ ] Autonomy high? [ ] External focus? [ ] Growth plans in place? [ ] Succession ready?
**Adjourning:** [ ] Achievements celebrated? [ ] Learnings captured? [ ] Transitions supported? [ ] Archive complete?

## Operating principles

- **Phases are not linear** — performing teams regress briefly on new members. Normal.
- **Leader's role shifts:** directive → facilitator → coach → delegator → supporter.
- **Don't skip storming** — suppressed conflict yields harmony without trust.
- **Psychological safety is the enabler across all phases.**
- **Charter early, check-in often** — the 3X3 loop prevents regression.
- **Adjourning matters** — unmanaged endings poison future teams.

## Composition with other skills

- **`team-charter`** — primary for Forming and resets
- **`team-check-in`** — primary for Norming/Performing maintenance
- **`team-close-gap`** — turns check-in diagnoses into action in any phase
- **`team-style-inventory`** — especially in Storming
- **`psychological-safety`** — prerequisite if low; preventative in Forming/Norming
- **`stakeholder-manage`** — when team boundaries change
- **`report-career-architect`** — Adjourning transitions
- **`wins-log`** — Performing wins; Adjourning retrospective

## Anti-patterns to flag

- **Forming leader absent** — "go figure it out" → chaos.
- **Storming avoidance** — suppressed conflict becomes passive-aggression.
- **Norming complacency** — "we're fine" → plateau.
- **Performing micro-management** — no delegation → dependency, burnout.
- **Adjourning neglect** — no learning captured.
- **Phase rigidity** — phases describe behavior, not identity.
- **Ignoring team size** — small teams cycle faster; large ones hold sub-teams in different phases.