Teams That Work

1. Teamwork is a Skill That Can Be Learned and Improved

"Teamwork and collaboration are hard."

Foundational Team Dynamics. Teamwork is not an innate talent but a skill that can be systematically developed. The research shows that teams can significantly improve their effectiveness by understanding and implementing specific evidence-based practices. Just like any other skill, teamwork requires intentional learning, practice, and continuous improvement.

Key Components of Effective Teamwork:

• Mutual understanding of team goals
• Clear communication
• Willingness to support teammates
• Ability to adapt to changing circumstances
• Shared commitment to team success

Transformative Potential. By approaching teamwork as a learnable skill, organizations and individuals can unlock tremendous potential. Teams that invest in understanding team dynamics and deliberately developing their collaborative capabilities can achieve substantially higher performance levels across various contexts.

2. Not All Teams Are Created Equal

"Teams are not all the same."

Team Diversity. Teams vary significantly across multiple dimensions, including interdependence, membership stability, task consistency, proximity, and expertise similarity. Understanding these variations is crucial for designing appropriate team strategies and interventions.

Continuum of Team Characteristics:

• Reliance: From independent to highly interdependent work
• Membership: From stable to frequently changing teams
• Task Requirements: From consistent to highly dynamic environments
• Location: From fully co-located to geographically dispersed
• Expertise: From highly homogeneous to diverse skill sets

Contextual Intelligence. Successful team leadership requires recognizing and adapting to these different team characteristics. A one-size-fits-all approach to teamwork is unlikely to be effective across varied team contexts.

3. Capability is About More Than Just Technical Skills

"Teamwork can rarely overcome a significant lack of talent."

Holistic Team Capabilities. Effective teams require both technical expertise and robust teamwork skills. While individual technical competence is essential, team members must also possess transportable skills like communication, conflict resolution, and interpersonal understanding.

Critical Team Capabilities:

• Fundamental communication skills
• Ability to provide and receive feedback
• Conflict management
• Collective orientation
• Adaptability

Talent Selection. Organizations should assess potential team members not just on technical skills but on their capacity to collaborate, learn, and contribute to team dynamics. Avoiding toxic personality traits is as important as recruiting technical expertise.

4. Trust and Psychological Safety Are Critical for Team Performance

"Psychological safety is what enables team members to believe they can speak up, admit mistakes, ask questions, offer a dissenting opinion, seek feedback and be themselves."

Foundational Team Attitudes. Trust and psychological safety are fundamental to high-performing teams. They enable open communication, risk-taking, learning, and genuine collaboration by creating an environment where team members feel secure in expressing themselves.

Key Elements of Psychological Safety:

• Permission to speak up without fear
• Willingness to admit mistakes
• Openness to different perspectives
• Mutual respect
• Belief in collective team potential

Cultural Transformation. Creating psychological safety requires deliberate leadership actions that consistently demonstrate openness, vulnerability, and genuine respect for team members' perspectives.

5. Effective Coordination Requires Consistent Teamwork Behaviors

"Coordination is about behaviors, teammates demonstrating the right teamwork behaviors."

Behavioral Foundations. Successful teams are characterized by specific coordination behaviors that go beyond individual technical skills. These include monitoring team dynamics, providing mutual support, adapting to challenges, and managing team emotions.

Core Coordination Behaviors:

• Maintaining situational awareness
• Providing backup and support
• Adapting to changing circumstances
• Constructively managing conflicts
• Proactive communication

Continuous Learning. Effective coordination is not a static state but a dynamic process requiring ongoing attention, practice, and mutual commitment from all team members.

6. Quality Communication Matters More Than Quantity

"More communication is not always better; better is better."

Communication Excellence. Effective team communication is not about generating more messages but ensuring high-quality, meaningful information exchange. Teams should focus on sharing unique, timely, and relevant information.

Communication Best Practices:

• Share unique, contextually relevant information
• Use closed-loop communication techniques
• Confirm understanding
• Minimize redundant communication
• Maintain clarity and precision

Strategic Information Management. Teams must develop sophisticated communication strategies that prioritize meaningful exchange over volume of communication.

7. Shared Understanding Drives Team Success

"Do team members possess a shared understanding about priorities, roles, vision, if–then, etc.?"

Cognitive Alignment. Successful teams develop shared mental models that create a common understanding of goals, priorities, roles, and potential scenarios. This alignment enables smoother coordination and more effective decision-making.

Elements of Shared Cognition:

• Common vision and goals
• Clear role definitions
• Consistent understanding of priorities
• Shared situational awareness
• Collective expertise mapping

Continuous Calibration. Shared understanding is not a one-time achievement but requires ongoing communication, reflection, and adjustment.

8. Organizational Conditions Significantly Impact Team Performance

"You get what you encourage . . . and tolerate."

Systemic Influences. Organizational policies, practices, and leadership behaviors create powerful signals that either support or inhibit effective teamwork. These conditions can either facilitate or constrain team potential.

Key Organizational Conditions:

• Hiring practices
• Performance management systems
• Reward structures
• Leadership behaviors
• Communication norms

Cultural Engineering. Senior leaders must intentionally design organizational conditions that encourage collaboration, psychological safety, and team-oriented behaviors.

9. Leadership Is Not Just for Designated Leaders

"Leadership isn't just for leaders."

Distributed Leadership. Effective teams require leadership behaviors from multiple team members, not just formal leaders. This involves shared responsibility for team success, mutual support, and proactive problem-solving.

Leadership Functions:

• Ensuring team clarity
• Holding teammates accountable
• Removing obstacles
• Managing team emotions
• Promoting continuous learning

Empowerment Approach. Organizations should cultivate a culture where leadership is seen as a collaborative responsibility rather than a top-down directive.

10. Great Teams Adapt and Learn Continuously

"The best teams become great by continually learning and adjusting."

Dynamic Team Development. High-performing teams are characterized by their ability to reflect, learn, and adapt. They view challenges as opportunities for growth and improvement.

Adaptation Strategies:

• Regular team debriefs
• Open feedback culture
• Willingness to experiment
• Systematic learning processes
• Celebrating both successes and learning from failures

Growth Mindset. Successful teams cultivate a collective learning orientation that views challenges as opportunities for development and improvement.

Last updated: December 25, 2024