PMP · Question #290
A project team with members from many different countries is struggling to cooperate. The project manager accepted these difficulties during the storming phase of team development, but the team has no
The correct answer is A. Plan social activities to help foster stronger interpersonal relationships and identify shared goals.. To move a struggling, multicultural team from the storming to the norming phase, the project manager should organize social activities to build stronger interpersonal relationships and help the team identify shared goals.
Question
Options
- APlan social activities to help foster stronger interpersonal relationships and identify shared goals.
- BFigure out who is behind the issues and apply progressive disciplinary techniques.
- CSpeak with the project sponsor about changing the team composition.
- DShow the team the schedule impact of their communication issues and encourage them to put
How the community answered
(26 responses)- A77% (20)
- B12% (3)
- C4% (1)
- D8% (2)
Why each option
To move a struggling, multicultural team from the storming to the norming phase, the project manager should organize social activities to build stronger interpersonal relationships and help the team identify shared goals.
Planning social activities fosters stronger interpersonal relationships and helps team members identify common ground and shared goals, which are crucial for resolving conflicts and establishing norms that define the 'norming' stage of team development, especially for diverse, multicultural teams.
Applying disciplinary techniques is a punitive measure that would likely worsen team dynamics, increase mistrust, and further hinder the team's ability to move beyond the storming phase into constructive collaboration.
Changing team composition should be a last resort, as it can be disruptive and costly; the project manager should first attempt to facilitate team development through interventions that build cohesion and resolve conflicts.
While showing the schedule impact highlights the problem, simply pointing out consequences and encouraging them to 'put their differences aside' without providing concrete mechanisms for relationship building or conflict resolution is unlikely to facilitate the deep behavioral changes needed for the norming phase.
Concept tested: Team development and conflict resolution (Tuckman's Stages)
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/get-started-people-management/5-build-cohesive-teams
Topics
Community Discussion
7
Prof. SaraMay 11, 2026A. Option A maps directly to Tuckman's norming phase, where the PM fosters interpersonal connections so a multicultural team can find shared goals, which is the exact remedy for a team stuck in storming. I tell my 10K+ students to remember the norming mnemonic, norms need networking, so schedule those social activities and get the team aligned.
Brenda K.May 13, 2026A is right and a quick win, under 30 seconds, but skip memorizing the mnemonic because Tuckman questions are pure pattern recognition: storming means conflict, so the answer is always the option about building trust or social connection, and flag for review only if two options both mention team bonding.
Brenda K.Apr 29, 2026Leaned D but storming to norming needs relationship building so A.
Mei-Ling H.May 2, 2026A is right but watch the wording carefully because the question says MOST important, not just important, and relationship building is what specifically moves the team past conflict in storming into norming.
Mei-Ling H.May 4, 2026Going with A here because the question says "move the team to the norming phase," and that phase is about building trust and shared goals, not punishing people. Option D is tempting since the project is falling behind, but showing schedule impact alone does not fix the underlying collaboration problem, it just adds pressure on a team already stuck in storming.
Samuel O.May 6, 2026Had almost this exact question on my exam last month, and A is the right call because getting people from different cultures to gel requires intentional relationship building, not blame or escalation. In my own work managing cross-functional teams, the teams that broke through storming fastest were the ones where I carved out time for people to actually connect as humans first, then the shared goals and norms followed naturally.
Brenda K.May 9, 2026A is right but flag this one if the wording gets long because the culturally diverse keyword signals its a relationship building question and you can lock it in under 20 seconds once you spot that.