What stage of team building are team members in if they frequently ask questions and test boundaries?

In the team development process, when team members frequently ask questions and test boundaries, they are typically in the storming stage. This is a crucial phase where individuals begin to express their opinions, which can lead to conflict or disagreement. Team members are working through their differences and negotiating roles, responsibilities, and the norms that will govern their collective work.

During this stage, individuals are exploring their positions within the team and establishing their identities, which often leads to challenging one another's ideas and methods. The act of asking questions implies that team members are trying to understand more about the project's direction, each other's skills, and how they can work effectively together. Testing boundaries is indicative of team members attempting to establish a dynamic that suits everyone's working style and preferences.

The other stages of team development—forming, norming, and performing—entail different dynamics. In the forming stage, team members are just getting to know one another and are typically more reserved and polite. In the norming stage, team cohesion strengthens, and members start to establish norms and expectations for working together. Finally, in the performing stage, the team operates effectively, focusing on productivity and collaboration without the conflicts seen in the earlier phases. Thus, the behaviors described in the question strongly align with