Increase Team Engagement at Work: What It Takes

Knowing Your Team to Increase Team Engagement at Work
Beyond goals, roles, and skills how well do you actually know your team? And does it matter?  Organizational culture assessment data confirms that it does — if you want real team engagement and sustained team performance.

Job descriptions tell you what people do. They do not tell you what motivates them, frustrates them, or helps them thrive. When you understand your team members’ perspectives, strengths, working styles, and aspirations, you lead with greater clarity and impact.

Stronger understanding builds stronger connection. And connection builds trust.

When employees feel known and valued — not just for their output, but for who they are — they are more likely to contribute discretionary effort, communicate openly, and collaborate effectively. Engagement increases because work feels more aligned and meaningful.

Knowing your team does not require overstepping boundaries. It requires intentional leadership.

• Ask better questions.
• Listen carefully.
• Notice what energizes or drains each person.
• Align responsibilities with strengths.
• Support growth goals.
• Adjust your leadership approach based on what you learn.

When it comes to people and relationships, small insights create big leverage.

Increase Team Engagement at Work: Two Foundational Factors of High Performance Teams

Assuming high levels of strategic clarity regarding team goals, roles, and success metrics, there are two additional drivers of high performing teams:

• Purpose
  High performing team members are strongly committed to each other and the team’s purpose.
• Greater Good
  High performing team members prioritize the success of the whole before their individual success in terms of decision-making and resource allocation.

How to Build Commitments to Each Other and to Team Success
Here are three ways you can begin the conversation that will deepen your understanding of who, at their core, is on your team. Ask your team members to:

1. Share Their Story
   It may sound “touchy-feely,” but truly knowing your team members — what drives them, challenges them, and matters most to them — has a direct impact on performance. Most employees report knowing very little about the people they work with. Imagine learning that a teammate is the sole caregiver for a seriously ill family member or that they overcame life-threatening circumstances as a teenager.
   
   You may not encounter stories that dramatic, but the principle remains: the deeper your understanding of the people around you, the stronger and more resilient your team becomes. Learning about your colleagues is not just a nice gesture — it’s a cornerstone of a healthy workplace culture.
   
   When leaders make the effort to understand their team, they can better leverage individual strengths, reduce conflicts, support career growth, spot early signs of stress or burnout, and make more informed decisions. Simply put, knowing your team’s story equips you to lead more effectively and build a workplace where people can truly thrive.
   
2. Measure and Share Their Level of Employee Engagement
   How engaged is each team member — and what would it take to keep your top performers fully committed? Take the time to understand what your people want to start, stop, and continue. This insight helps increase loyalty, discretionary effort, and advocacy across the team.
   
   A high-performing team is, at its core, a collection of individuals. The more accurately you assess each person’s strengths, weaknesses, motivations, and aspirations, the better you can align roles, assign responsibilities, and create opportunities where people can excel with confidence. Engagement, development, and retention thrive when the right people are in the right seats, doing work that matches their skills and potential.
3. Create a Culture of Continuous Improvement and Learning
   When team members truly know each other and leaders understand what matters most to each individual, engagement evolves from intention to meaningful engagement action. High-performing teams translate that understanding into visible, meaningful behaviors — they listen actively, seek feedback, experiment with new approaches, and continuously refine how they work. Learning becomes a shared responsibility, improvement a constant, and engagement a living part of the team’s culture.

The Bottom Line
High functioning teams are highly engaged teams. Their members work together to create something special and are excited to do so. They are committed to individual and collective success. Can you say that your team has reached this level of engagement and performance?

To begin to increase team engagement at work, download Sample Team Charter Template

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.