Team Effectiveness Framework to Navigate Success

Do You Need a Team Effectiveness Framework to Navigate Success?
Many factors contribute to winning teams.  And while top talent certainly helps, achieving success at work is rarely an individual endeavor — it’s a collective journey fueled by the power of teams. And for anyone who has ever been on a team, they know that team dynamics can be tricky.

A Research-Backed 5-Step Team Effectiveness Framework
What propels some teams towards peak performance and sustainable success?  When you review the research, five steps continually rise to the surface.

1. Clear Goals and Common Purpose
   Our organizational alignment research found that strategic clarity accounts for 31% of the difference between high and low performing teams. At the heart of the Team Effectiveness Framework lies the imperative of clear goals and a shared purpose. Successful teams align themselves with a common mission that transcends individual objectives for the sake of a unified vision.

   Are your team goals clear enough, believable enough, and implementable enough to set the team up for success?

2. Clear and Complementary Skills and Roles
   Diversity isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a cornerstone of effective teams. Assembling a team with diverse skill sets and roles that complement one another creates the synergy required for higher performance. According to the American Psychological Association, when teamed together correctly, about 10% of the workforce can account for about 30% of productivity.

   Have you set up teams where each member brings unique and relevant perspectives and expertise to the table in a way that propels the team to higher performance?

3. Strong Interpersonal Relationships
   Behind every successful team is a foundation of trust, communication, effective decision making, and genuine camaraderie. The Team Effectiveness Framework underscores the importance of strong interpersonal relationships, acknowledging that a cohesive team is built on the bedrock of mutual respect and understanding. Teams that invest in fostering these connections not only weather challenges more effectively but also celebrate victories with shared triumph.

   Are you creating the psychological team safety required to develop strong interpersonal relationships?

4. Collective Accountability
   Team accountability isn’t a burden; it’s a shared commitment to shared beliefs, transparency, and a common goal. Teams that cultivate a culture of collective accountability take ownership of their responsibilities and outperform their peers because they surpass individual capabilities. They define and live agreed upon team norms that help people “do what they say they will do.”

   Have you clearly defined performance and behavioral expectations, rewards, and consequences for your teams?

5. Adaptability and Resilience
   Change is inevitable, and successful teams navigate it with openness, a growth mindset, and grace. The Team Effectiveness Framework champions adaptability and resilience, urging teams to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth. In a world where agility is paramount, teams that cultivate a mindset of continuous learning and adaptation thrive during the good and bad times.

   Can you teams effectively lead and manage change?

The Bottom Line
Cohesive teams are powerful. Clear goals, complementary skills, strong relationships, collective accountability, and adaptability are the hallmarks that guide teams toward unparalleled heights of achievement.

To learn more about setting your teams up for success, download Sample Team Charter Template