My Bracket’s Busted but My Team Norms Are Tight

To everyone’s surprise, I LOVE March Madness (that’s the college basketball tournament for my non-sporty readers).

I fill out at least two brackets every year, often based entirely on which mascots I like best. (This year was especially hard. Why are there so many bulldogs???) I talk a little trash, root for total chaos, and get way too emotionally invested. I’m excited when a 12th seed upsets a 1st seed. I’m deflated when they get knocked out in the next round, and I feel gutted when I see players crying in the locker room. 

“Oh, they’re so upset!” I said while watching a game recently. My stepson looked at me and said, “Of course they are, Lizzie (no, the rest of you may not start calling me Lizzie). Their season’s over.” Duh.

And yet, I bounce back quickly because in March Madness, there’s always another team to root for. And honestly, that’s part of what makes it so fun: the unpredictability, the heartbreak, the long-shot wins. I also really love what the NCAA tournament shows us about teams. Unlike the NBA, where star players tend to steal the show, March Madness is all about team chemistry. 

That’s the part I keep coming back to, probably because it connects so closely to the work I’ve been doing with clients lately. It’s also what inspired this newsletter.

“Teamwork is really a form of trust. It’s what happens when you surrender the mistaken idea that you can go it alone.”

— Coach Patricia “Pat” Summitt, University of Tennessee

Great Teams Aren’t Built on Talent Alone

The best college basketball teams don’t win solely because they’ve recruited the most talented individuals. They win because they trust each other. They’ve bought into the same goals and the same principles. They’ve committed to something bigger than themselves.

As Mike “Coach K“ Krzyzewski of Duke once said: “Different talents, same commitment.”

That’s true in kitchens, dining rooms, and management teams too. Talent matters, but alignment, culture, and trust matter more.

From Brackets to Bruce Tuckman: The Phases of Team Development

There’s a classic team development model by psychologist Bruce Tuckman that outlines the journey every team goes through: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing.

I’ve used this model a lot in restaurant training where I’ve been known to say: “20 people who show up for a Soul Cycle class are not automatically a team.” The same goes for a group of people who turn up on the court for basketball practice.

Forming
Roles aren’t clear yet. People are polite, trying to fit in.

• There’s excitement, but also nerves and uncertainty.

• Coaches (or leaders) are introducing systems, plays, and culture.

• Everyone’s figuring out how things work and where they belong.

Storming
Now the challenges kick in.

• Teammates start competing for playing time or recognition.

• Miscommunication happens.

• A star player (or director) might be frustrated with their role.

• The team hits adversity: setbacks, failure, internal conflict.

• The leader pushes harder, and tension can rise.

This is a critical growth phase. Some teams never move past it: chemistry issues, leadership gaps, or immaturity can cause them to stall out here.

Norming
The team starts to settle in

• Roles become clearer.

• Trust increases. Teammates begin supporting each other more vocally.

• Leaders emerge, not just by stats, but by presence.

• The team identity solidifies: “We’re scrappy but get the job done” “We move the ball/project with intention.”

• Culture and cohesion strengthen. Adjustments happen more smoothly.

Performing
Now the team is locked in and focused:

• Everyone is performing their role at a high level.

• The whole team buys into the system.

• They can adapt mid-game/mid-project, overcome deficits, and stay calm under pressure.

• They’re playing for each other with chemistry, purpose, and trust.

Restaurant Teams Spend A Lot of Time Storming

In hospitality, storming feels more like a recurring feature instead of just a phase. Turnover is constant, and new hires, no-shows, last-minute shift swaps - it all impacts cohesion.

That’s not a failure. But it does mean we need better tools to navigate it.

One of the most powerful tools that I’ve come across? Team norms.

Move Through Storming By Building Team Norms

You can’t skip storming, but you can move through it with intention.

Team norms aren’t top-down rules. They’re co-created principles that help everyone align. Without them, people operate with different assumptions, and that leads to friction.

One person thinks being five minutes late is fine. Another sees it as disrespect. Multiply that across a shift, and the tension adds up.

But when a team builds its norms together, they take shared responsibility. They become collaborators, not just coworkers. They know what’s expected and what they can count on. Team norms create accountability, build trust, and offer something to return to when conflict inevitably arises.

Sample Team Norms 
(Feel free to borrow these, but better yet, build your own!)

• Take space, make space. Speak up, but make room for others.

• Lean into discomfort. Growth happens on the edge.

• What’s said here stays here. What’s learned here can leave.

• We can do anything, but we cannot do everything.
  

How to Create Team Norms
Here’s a simple step-by-step to help your team build their own norms (together).

1. Reflect Individually
   Ask each person: What matters to you in a team?

2. Popcorn-style Share
   Spend 5 - 10 minutes sharing responses out loud,  popcorn style. Try these prompts:
   What do you need to be a productive member of this team?
   What do you need to feel safe(r) in this space?
   What are you willing to be held accountable for, and what do you expect from others

3. Capture Everything
   Designate a leader or facilitator to jot down all of the ideas on a whiteboard or large Post-it.

4. Reality Check the Ideas

   Review all the ideas as a team, and ask questions:
   Tell me more about this one 
   How would this look in our day-to-day?
   Make sure to hear from everyone. The goal is clarity & buy-in.

5. Narrow it Down
   Choose 6-8 norms that feel right for this team, at this moment.

6. Make it Real
   Write these up. Share them. Post them. Live them. Onboard new hires with them. Revisit regularly. 

   (Bonus: use this beautiful poster because whales are excellent communicators.)
   

Need a hand? Want help facilitating this with your team? You know who to call!

What We Can Learn From The Madness

At its best, March Madness reminds us of everything we want teams to be: resilient, scrappy, emotionally invested, and committed to each other.

It reminds us that the path to performance is never a straight line. It’s messy, human, and full of moments that could go either way.

And it reminds us that great leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about trust, adaptability, and knowing when to pass the ball.

So yes, I’ll still fill out my brackets based on mascots and uniform colors. I’ll cheer for the underdog and text my stepson a video of the manager who got a name-and-likeness deal 6 weeks after it became old news. But beneath the buzzer-beaters and bracket busts, there’s something deeper going on: a lesson in what it means to lead, to grow, and to be part of something bigger than yourself.

As of this writing, I’m currently in second place, so cute animal mascots for the win!!