Resident Advisors (RAs) are first and foremost community builders. One of the simplest and most useful frameworks you can use to understand how your residents grow as a group is Tuckman’s stages of group development. This includes five stages (four of which I’m focusing on here): forming, storming, norming, (performing), and adjourning. In university housing, the first three are where most of your daily work happens.
Forming
Forming is the “honeymoon phase.” During the first few weeks, residents are polite, cautious, and trying to figure out social norms. Everyone is absorbing and sharing information about who is outgoing, who is quiet, who likes to study late, and what the “unwritten rules” of the floor are. Think of this stage as planting the seeds for trust and cooperation.
RAs can support this stage by:
- hosting simple meet-and-greet-type events so residents learn names, interests, and routines.
- creating community agreements early: quiet hours, cleaning standards, guest policies, and how to handle roommate concerns.
- inviting residents to share preferences so they feel ownership of the community from the beginning.
Storming
After a few weeks, once the novelty wears off, real-life differences start to surface. Although undesirable, this is completely normal. This is where your support matters most. If all goes well, storming becomes a turning point rather than a crisis.
RAs can manage storming by:
- normalizing conflict, or letting residents know that disagreements are inevitable
- facilitating open, respectful conversations early on before issues snowball
- mediating when needed, while coaching residents on how to problem-solve on their own
- reinforcing clear expectations and helping create compromises
Norming
Eventually, groups move into norming, where trust is worked on and routines are resumed. Residents start realizing they need to respect differences to coexist. They understand each other’s rhythms and uphold shared expectations. Norming is where your floor begins to feel like a more realistic community that is actively working towards enacting their compromises.
RAs can strengthen the norming stage by:
- using periodic check-ins (group chat messages, emails, hall meetings, etc.) to see how people feel about community norms
- stepping back when appropriate to encourage letting residents apply their own creative initiatives and agreements in order to build their confidence and independence
Adjourning
Finally, groups enter an adjourning phase. For most of our contexts, this means the end of the academic year. This phase is characterized by commemorative experiences in which memories and goodbyes are shared.
RAs can strengthen the norming stage by:
- Planning celebrations like an End of the Year Banquet
- Facilitating activities like mini-yearbook signing, hall photo frame decorating, etc.
How This Applies to Your RA Team Too
I actually first remember hearing about Tuckman’s stages from a supervisor in my first year of being an RA. He shared that RA staffs go through the same stages:
- forming – training week bonding, sharing hall decor ideas, comparing resident anecdotes, being excited for duty
- storming – disagreements about protocol, clashes in communication styles, not helping out for duty holds/trades
- norming – gaining a more realistic and stable understanding of team dynamics
Whether you’re a returning RA or a newbie to a team, recognizing these stages helps you support your experience in the same way you support your residents.
Tuckman’s stages are more than just an academic theory. It’s a roadmap for community-formation. When you understand where a team is at, you can choose the right approach with patience and intentionality.
