Three Steps to Improve Team Effectiveness

High-performing teams are critical to business success in the era of hybrid work. Unfortunately, they are exceedingly rare. Only 11% of organizations have teams whose members understand their roles and trust each other to operate within team norms and objectives, according to Brandon Hall Group research. 

Effective teamwork — virtually, in-person or hybrid — is difficult to operationalize and measure and can be even more challenging to influence when things aren’t going well. 

Employees should understand the complexities and nuances of working within diverse teams because 69% of organizations surveyed said there will be a large or moderate increase in work done in cross-functional teams over the next few years. And 60% of organizations say at least half of team collaboration will be virtual. 

While organizations understand the importance of teams and team development, there are many competing training priorities. Few organizations believe they are in the position to excel through the use of teams. With the amount of teamwork expected to increase significantly over the next few years, now is the time to identify better ways to prepare employees to participate and lead in high-performing teams. 

What are the most important steps we can take to develop more people to participate in and lead high-performing teams? 

Give training on selecting team members based on diverse capabilities and experiences specific to the team mission. 

Excelling in selecting team members — especially for cross-functional and project teams and task forces — requires deep knowledge of employees’ capabilities. Most organizations lack full visibility on employee capabilities. They also must be able to compare capabilities and work styles to identify talents that complement each other and fit the business objectives of the team. 

Team selection is as much art as science. Too often, employers select team members based on performance and/or expertise and don’t fully understand how everyone will work together. Leaders involved in team selection often need more training on team dynamics so they have a better handle on how to make selection decisions. 

Provide training on effective team leadership and collaboration. 

Teams come together for many different purposes, with people of diverse backgrounds, experiences and levels of expertise. Depending upon one’s capabilities, a person could be a collaborator on one team and a leader on another, possibly at the same time. 

Therefore, employees must have a deep understanding of how to function in teams in a variety of roles. This is not easy, nor does it come naturally to many people. Continuous learning to help employees understand how to collaborate effectively in diverse situations with diverse colleagues is the only way teams can reach their potential. 

Provide resources to help teams define their values, goals, roles and operating principles. 

Each team is unique, with its own reason for being and its own goals and vision for success. Successful teams must have a firm understanding of how the team and its members should function. 

Team charters are a good way to introduce governance and ensure everyone understands the responsibilities of the team as a whole and as individual members. You can find more on team governance here. Employers should have on-demand resources available to help with team selection, governance and operations to reinforce training and promote consistency. 

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Mike Cooke

Chief Executive Officer of Brandon Hall Group Mike Cooke Prior to joining Brandon Hall Group, Mike Cooke was the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of AC Growth. Mike held leadership and executive positions for the majority of his career, at which he was responsible for steering sales and marketing teams to drive results and profitability. His background includes more than 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, management, and operations in the research, consulting, software and technology industries. Mike has extensive experience in sales, marketing and management having worked for several early high-growth emerging businesses and has implemented technology systems to support various critical sales, finance, marketing and client service functions. He is especially skilled in organizing the sales and service strategy to fully support a company’s growth strategy. The concept of growth was an absolute to Mike and a motivator in starting AC Growth, in order to help organizations achieve research driven results. Most recently, Mike was the VP and General Manager of Field Operations at Bersin & Associates, a global analyst and consulting services firm focused on all areas of enterprise learning, talent management and talent acquisition. Tasked with leading the company’s global expansion, Mike led all sales operations worldwide. During Mike’s tenure, the company has grown into a multi-national firm, conducting business in over 45 countries with over 4,500 multi-national organizations. Mike started his career at MicroVideo Learning Systems in 1992, eventually holding a senior management position and leading all corporate sales before founding Dynamic Minds. Mike was CEO and Co-Founder of Dynamic Minds, a custom developer of software programs, working with clients like Goldman Sachs, Prentice Hall, McGraw Hill and Merrill Lynch. Also, Mike worked for Oddcast, a leading provider of customer experience and marketing solutions, where he held a senior management position leading the company into new markets across various industries. Mike also serves on the Advisory Board for Carbon Solutions America, an independent sustainability consulting and carbon management firm that specializes in the design and implementation of greenhouse reduction and sustainability plans as well as managing the generation of carbon and renewal energy and energy efficiency credits. Mike attended University of Phoenix, studying Business Administration and Finance. He has also completed executive training at the Chicago Graduate School of Business in Chicago, IL.