---
title: Getting a new team to fire on all cylinders...
description: Getting new teams to fire on all cylinders
---

[Leadership Development Blog | Importance Of Team Development](https://www.centreforteams.com/blog)

# [Getting a new team to fire on all cylinders...](https://www.centreforteams.com/blog/getting-a-new-team-to-fire-on-all-cylinders)

 Written by [David Paice](https://www.centreforteams.com/blog/author/david-paice) | Mar 1, 2026

New teams often start out **pleasant** rather than [productive](https://www.centreforteams.com/team-leadership). People are careful, courteous, and reluctant to challenge one another—especially when they’re still working out the unwritten rules. To a lay observer, this can look like harmony; in reality it can become **polite conformity**, where meetings feel smooth but priorities remain fuzzy, decisions drift, and important tensions stay unspoken.

A helpful way to understand what’s happening is **Tuckman’s stages of group development**. Tuckman proposed that teams typically progress through predictable phases as they learn how to work together: **Forming** (orientation and caution), **Storming** (friction and negotiation of differences), **Norming** (shared ways of working), and later **Performing** (effective, flexible collaboration) (Tuckman, 1965). The stages aren’t a tidy straight line—teams can loop back during change—but the model gives leaders a simple map: early discomfort is often not failure, it’s **development**.

This is where [**team coaching**](https://www.centreforteams.com/team-leadership) can help a newly formed team “fire on all cylinders” sooner. Coaching creates a structured space for the conversations teams tend to postpone—so they can translate goodwill into **clarity, commitment, and momentum**. Evidence on workplace coaching shows positive effects on performance-related outcomes, and team-focused coaching is particularly useful when it improves the quality of collective sense-making and follow-through (Cannon-Bowers et al., 2023).

In **Forming**, the leader’s job is to replace ambiguity with shared understanding—without over-controlling. The team needs a **compelling direction** (what we’re here to achieve and why it matters), clear roles and decision rights, and explicit permission to ask “basic” questions. This is also the moment to establish **psychological safety**—not as a slogan, but as the practical expectation that people can raise concerns, challenge assumptions, and admit uncertainty without punishment. Psychological safety supports learning behaviour in teams, which is essential when a team is still finding its feet (Edmondson, 1999).

If Forming is about alignment, **Storming** is about honesty. Differences surface—about standards, pace, influence, and what “good” looks like. High-performing teams don’t avoid Storming; they learn to **use it well**. Leaders can accelerate progress by naming the stage as normal, keeping disagreement focused on ideas and trade-offs, and building brief moments of reflection that turn friction into learning. Research indicates **team reflexivity**—pausing to review goals, processes, and relationships—is associated with better performance (Leblanc et al., 2024).

Done consistently, this moves the team into **Norming**, where shared habits stabilise coordination and accountability—creating the platform for truly successful performance.

<https://www.centreforteams.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLISoLfduhjtoih0gLMbshotAPiawES%2BOL6R4CSCO2V5uRZ6I%2F0K4VMS80C7YSZn4H8zcFK5%2BEtl5fOxUinoEzrZ523V4n7LJs5%2Fgxl7avTyFv2nRT8kb%2B3LglqbeKxDzNHTrcLXnZflw4xbwHwC90YzR4YXubAvLgP%2F34JkdaWGO%2B0iKqtXKmZKALInF4MGCe%2FP%2BIJhPzIlIHCTfkNo%2Bln%2BLK37%2FPW4q9vY4rrkekDjE1wB8U4%3D&webInteractiveContentId=161174640313&portalId=7628916>

### References

Cannon-Bowers, J. A., Bowers, C., & Salas, E. (2023). Workplace coaching: A meta-analysis and recommendations for future research. *Frontiers in Psychology*.  
Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. *Administrative Science Quarterly, 44*(2), 350–383.  
Leblanc, P. M., et al. (2024). A meta-analysis of team reflexivity: Antecedents, outcomes, and boundary conditions. *Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes*.  
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. *Psychological Bulletin, 63*(6), 384–399.

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