Ridin’ The Storm Out — #5 in Accelerating New Business Development

In our last post we began a discussion of Bruce Tuckman’s 4 phase path for teamwork – “forming, storming, norming and performing” and how it applies to accelerating new business development. When “storming”, people start to push against the law firm marketing and business development programs that are identified in the “forming” stage. This is often the stage where many teams fail and firm management may give up. Storming frequently begins where there is conflict between team members’ natural working styles. But if these working styles cause unforeseen problems, the individuals may become frustrated and loose the proximity to the “accelerator zone.”

Other storming situations may occur if team members challenge your authority or jockey for position as their roles are clarified. Some may question the goals and resist taking on tasks.

Next column will cover “norming” and how this stage impacts law firm marketing and business development.