Top 9 Insights from Research on Building a Truly Effective Team
Key Factors That Define an Effective Team
A high-performing team is a small group of individuals with complementary skills who are united by a shared purpose, aligned goals, and a collective approach, holding themselves mutually accountable for their outcomes.
In today’s complex organizations, the top predictor of success is a well-selected and well-supported team. Success is no longer about having a superhero leader but about building a super team.
9 Key Elements of a High-Performing Team
- Manageable Size: An effective team is small enough to maintain close relationships among members, avoiding sub-groups that can hinder cohesion.
- Complementary Skills: A diverse mix of skills, perspectives, and expertise strengthens the team. Effective leaders actively recruit individuals with varied backgrounds to encourage innovation and collaboration.
- Commitment: True commitment involves active engagement and investment in the team’s collective mission and vision, going beyond passive agreement.
- Common Goal: A shared, clearly communicated goal unites team members and ensures everyone is working toward the same objectives.
- Clear Performance Objectives: Goals should be specific, measurable, and actionable, reflecting the team’s overarching mission. These objectives should assess both individual and collective performance.
- Shared Collaboration Approach: The team agrees on processes, principles, or protocols to guide how they work together effectively.
- Accountability: Responsibility is shared among team members, not just left to the leader. Team members hold each other accountable for their contributions.
- Effective Meetings: Meetings are purposeful, aligning with team activities, boosting morale, and serving as a platform for emotional connection and energy renewal.
- Continuous Learning and Development: High-performing teams prioritize ongoing learning to enhance individual and collective capacity, ensuring they evolve and improve over time.
Applying It to Coaching
Reflect on your team, paying attention to its dynamics and overall effectiveness. How would you assess your team in relation to the 10 aspects mentioned above? Identify the strengths and pinpoint the areas where improvement is needed. This reflection can serve as a valuable foundation for creating strategies and developing an actionable plan to elevate your team’s performance to the next level.