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Team Effectiveness, Essay Example

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Team Effectiveness is used in reference to the efforts and strategies that are used to get a group of people to work together and deliver the required results. The term is also used to refer to institutions or companies where people are required to work together as a unified team to deliver results or meet expected targets. Team effectiveness is used to define the cohesion and unified momentum with which these teams move towards achieving the targets (Bocco 2009).  The effectiveness of the team is also measured on the basis of the motivation as well as the blend of skills that are being portrayed in the team and how well these are organised and balanced towards the achievement of the set goals.

Effective teams are seen to have specific traits or characteristics that help them achieve their targets (Brodie 2009). The most important of these traits is the care for each other where the team members have concern for the needs of each other. The members also have openness amongst themselves as well as having trust amongst themselves which is very vital for efficiency at work. The other two important traits of effective teams are consensus at decision making as well as commitment to the decisions so arrived at. Similarly these teams handle their disagreements speedily and solve them fast therefore ensuring they forestall any incidences of philosophical discontinuity. Blair M (2008), points out that one important way that effective communication helps avoids philosophical discontinuity is through disambiguation.  Finally these teams demonstrate real listening as well as having the members express their feelings with openness.

The best organizational psychology model that is best suited for the purpose of team development is the custodial model. The employees who are members of the team are viewed as economic resources and they have plenty of time and space to wiggle and give direction to the matters of the team. This ensures maximum productivity of the team. This model therefore fits best in a team that is dependent on all team members contributing towards the development of the team.

There are two major causes of team conflicts and misunderstanding in teams. The first is poor communication and decision making while the other is philosophical discontinuity. These failures have serious impact on the team. First poor communication leads to low team morale and hence the teams are unable to share ideas and hence the cohesion at work is highly reduced.

Communication can serve as a very effective tool for dealing with philosophical discontinuity. Most important is the process of 360 degrees feedback as a tool of communication in passing forth information in an organization. This method ensures that information flows up and down the hierarchical ladder of the organization. Holding regular meetings with personnel of all cadres helps in ensuring that all information is passed ford between the different levels of management as well as the implementing arm (McNamara 2008). This ensures that there is no feeling of exclusion among any members of the organization and therefore forestalling the possibility that a wide philosophical gap will develop between the employees. Decision making on the other hand is other vital strategy that can utilised in combating philosophical discontinuity. First is the use of strategic development sessions. This ensures that every participant is given an opportunity to voice their ideas as well as their criticism on the plans of others. The resultant culture of consultation heightens respect and openness between the different members of the business management. By restoring communication and effective sharing of information between members of teams, the level of awareness is enhanced between the different team members and therefore ensuring that team conflicts are avoided.

Bocco, D. (2009). Team Effectiveness. Retrieved 21 September 2009. Available http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-team-effectiveness.htm.

Blair, G. M. Conversation as communication. Retrieved November 7, 2008 at: http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art7.html.

Brodie D (2009). Characteristics of effective teams. Retrieved 21 Septeber 2009. available: http://ezinearticles.com/?8-Key-Characteristics-of-Effective-Teams&id=817550.

McNamara, C. (nd). Basics in internal organizational communications. Retrieved November 7, 2008 at: http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/org_cmm.htm

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The Secrets of Great Teamwork

• Martine Haas
• Mark Mortensen

Over the years, as teams have grown more diverse, dispersed, digital, and dynamic, collaboration has become more complex. But though teams face new challenges, their success still depends on a core set of fundamentals. As J. Richard Hackman, who began researching teams in the 1970s, discovered, what matters most isn’t the personalities or behavior of the team members; it’s whether a team has a compelling direction, a strong structure, and a supportive context. In their own research, Haas and Mortensen have found that teams need those three “enabling conditions” now more than ever. But their work also revealed that today’s teams are especially prone to two corrosive problems: “us versus them” thinking and incomplete information. Overcoming those pitfalls requires a new enabling condition: a shared mindset.

This article details what team leaders should do to establish the four foundations for success. For instance, to promote a shared mindset, leaders should foster a common identity and common understanding among team members, with techniques such as “structured unstructured time.” The authors also describe how to evaluate a team’s effectiveness, providing an assessment leaders can take to see what’s working and where there’s room for improvement.

Collaboration has become more complex, but success still depends on the fundamentals.

Idea in Brief

The problem.

Teams are more diverse, dispersed, digital, and dynamic than ever before. These qualities make collaboration especially challenging.

The Analysis

Mixing new insights with a focus on the fundamentals of team effectiveness identified by organizational-behavior pioneer J. Richard Hackman, managers should work to establish the conditions that will enable teams to thrive.

The Solution

The right conditions are

• a compelling direction
• a strong structure
• a supportive context, and
• a shared mindset

Weaknesses in these areas make teams vulnerable to problems.

Today’s teams are different from the teams of the past: They’re far more diverse, dispersed, digital, and dynamic (with frequent changes in membership). But while teams face new hurdles, their success still hinges on a core set of fundamentals for group collaboration.

• Martine Haas is the Lauder Chair Professor of Management at the Wharton School and Director of the Lauder Institute for Management & International Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a PhD from Harvard University. Her research focuses on collaboration and teamwork in global organizations.
• Mark Mortensen is a professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD and for over 20 years has studied and consulted on collaboration and organization design, with a focus on hybrid, virtual, and globally distributed work. Mark publishes regularly in Harvard Business Review , MIT Sloan Management Review , and INSEAD Knowledge, and is a regular fixture in popular press outlets like the BBC, the Economist , the Financial Times , and Fortune .

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The Psychology of Teamwork: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teams

These are the outcomes of working as a team, whether in business or on the sports field. Yet teamwork comes with its own set of challenges.

Would you like to know how to leverage the many benefits of teamwork?

Yet avoid its pitfalls, such as lack of communication, poor trust, and personality clashes among team members?

Then this article is for you, as we explore the psychology of teamwork and share actionable habits that can build highly effective teams.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Work & Career Coaching Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients identify opportunities for professional growth and create a more meaningful career.

This Article Contains:

The psychology of teamwork: what makes an effective team, 7 habits of highly effective teams, 2 real-life examples of effective teamwork, 10 barriers to teamwork, 10 team-building skills for successful teams, resources from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message.

Psychological theory, research, and models provide valuable insights and guidance into effective team building and maintenance in various workplace settings, including schools, hospitals, corporate offices, oil rigs, power plants, and the military (Salas et al., 2018).

Psychology has come a long way in understanding such complex groups—as recognized by a special issue on the “ Science of Teamwork ” in the American Psychological Association’s flagship journal American Psychologist in 2018.

Teams are vital and commonplace. Because of their prevalence and impact, “our safety, security, comfort, and innovation depend on good teamwork and collaboration” (Salas et al., 2018, p. 593).

Innovation is often the result of constant communication and side-by-side work and takes place “when collaboration translates each person’s creativity into group genius” and conflict is avoided (Sawyer, 2007, p. 13).

But then, what are teams exactly, and how do we define them?

Teamwork definition

We must begin by understanding what defines a “group.” Within an organization, a group is more than simply a collection of people. Members recognize themselves as a social entity that (Davenport, 2009):

• Interacts with each of its members
• Is psychologically aware of each of its members
• Perceives itself as a group

And yet, teams go further. They share a common goal. With the modern workplace demanding successful partnering across functional and geographical divides, fostering collaborative team working cultures becomes increasingly vital (Davenport, 2009).

Therefore, an effective team has the following attributes (Davenport, 2009):

• Clear understanding of the team’s objectives and goals
• Range of skills and know-how among team members to handle tasks effectively
• Variety of personality types and strengths among its team members
• High degree of respect and trust, both individually and for each other’s contributions to team performance
• An effective recognition and reward system

The points above are helpful because they enable us to distinguish between people working together in groups and those forming effective teams.

When considered together, it’s possible to arrive at the following teamwork definition: “Teamwork can be defined as the ability of team members to work together, communicate effectively, anticipate and meet each other’s demands, and inspire confidence, resulting in a coordinated collective action” (Salas & Cannon-Bowers, 2001, extract).

And a definition of team building might arise as follows:

“Team building is an ongoing process that helps a work group evolve into a cohesive unit. The team members not only share expectations for accomplishing group tasks, but trust and support one another and respect one another’s individual differences” (Team building: Introduction, n.d., para. 1).

Understanding the psychology of group dynamics

“We know what effective teams do, think, and feel. We know what influences team dynamics, and some interventions that help develop teamwork” (Salas et al., 2018, p. 593).

Psychological research has confirmed that the following elements are the minimum prerequisites for an effective team:

• Strong team leadership
• Role clarity
• Mutual trust
• Sound information exchange protocols
• A compelling reason to be a team

Team psychology in the workplace

Several psychological and organizational models and frameworks have grown out of the need to understand and explain how teams form, grow, develop, maintain, and change in the workplace.

The following three early models are valuable for our current understanding of how effective teams evolve (Davenport, 2009).

Bass and Ryterband’s model

Bass and Ryterband’s (1979) model of team development includes four stages and areas of focus:

• First stage: Building trust among team members
• Second stage: Open communication, problem-solving, and decision-making
• Third stage: Motivation and productivity of the team
• Fourth stage: Control and organization where members can work independently

Woodcock’s model

Woodcock’s (1979) model of team development also has four stages:

• The undeveloped team: Unclear objectives, established policies, and a lack of shared understanding prevail. Mistakes are used to blame others.
• The experimenting team: The team is willing to take risks and includes more active listening and short periods of group introspection.
• The consolidating team: The team adopts a systematic approach. Rules and procedures are agreed upon, and improved relationships and methods from the previous stage are maintained.
• The mature team: The team achieves high flexibility and appropriate leadership for different situations, and prioritizes development for continued success. Trust, openness, honesty, cooperation, confrontation, and reviewing results become the norm.

Tuckman’s model

Tuckman’s (1965) model of team development includes five stages:

• Forming During the initial stage, team members come together. They may be anxious and unsure, and there are few rules.
• Storming This is the stage of disagreement, including frustration and potential confrontation, where team members are more confident to express themselves and challenge each other.
• Norming This is when group identity, guidelines, and norms are established. Emotions are expressed constructively.
• Performing The team has created structure and cohesiveness to work effectively and can now concentrate on achieving its objectives.
• Adjourning In this final stage, the team reflects on their time together and may disband.

Sports psychology

As with individuals, team performance in sports can benefit from time spent building psychological capital , which comprises four key elements (Luthans et al., 2015):

• Self-efficacy

Furthermore, according to positive psychology consultant and performance coach John Yeager, sports teams collectively benefit from coaching focused on each element to build the psychological capital required to boost their combined performance.

Once achieved, they “maintain a healthy culture and find an effective balance between holding athletes accountable and supporting each other” (Yeager, 2021, p. 223).

Recommended read: Positive Psychology in the Workplace

Keith Sawyer (2007, p. 13), a psychologist at Washington University, says that his research shows “the secret to understanding what makes a collaboration successful lies inside the box, in moment-to-moment interactional dynamics.”

This understanding led him to rethink group innovation and creativity, identifying the following seven key characteristics (or habits) of effective, creative teams along with suggested actions for moving innovation forward (Sawyer, 2007):

• Innovation emerges over time. Successful innovation requires its members to combine the right ideas in an appropriate structure, bit by bit.

ACTION: Encourage team members to take time each day/week to brainstorm and share new ideas and establish a structure for combining and building on those ideas over time .

• Successful collaborative teams practice deep listening. Team members often spend too much time planning what they will say and how to respond in meetings and too little time listening to and observing others.

ACTION: Prioritize active listening and observation during team meetings and discussions. And provide opportunities for team members to practice deep listening skills .

• Team members build on their collaborators’ ideas. Through deep listening, team members take on and evolve each idea further.

ACTION: Recognize the potential of other team members’ ideas and accept the importance of collective ownership to drive forward problem-solving .

• Only afterward does the meaning of each idea become clear. While it’s tempting to attribute an idea to one person, its full importance results from being taken up, reinterpreted, and applied by the whole team. “Participants are willing to allow other people to give their action meaning by building on it later” (Sawyer, 2007, p. 15).

ACTION: Emphasize the importance of evolving and adapting ideas as a team, rather than attributing them to one individual .

• Surprising questions emerge. “The most transformative creativity results when a group either thinks of a new way to frame a problem or finds a new problem that no one has noticed before” (Sawyer, 2007, p. 16).

ACTION: Encourage team members to question assumptions and think outside the box by regularly posing surprising or unconventional questions during meetings and discussions .

• Innovation is inefficient. Improvised innovation will make more mistakes, but it can be phenomenal when the team gets a hit.

ACTION: Recognize that innovation can be inefficient and messy but emphasize the potential for breakthroughs .

• Innovation emerges from the bottom up. Teams start with the detail, improvise innovation, then work up to the big picture.

ACTION: Foster a bottom-up approach to innovation, starting with small details and building toward the bigger picture .

While all seven are characteristics of an effective team, they are also actionable tasks within the process where team members play off each other (Sawyer, 2007).

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The following are two high-profile examples of the immense potential of effective teamwork, especially when the stakes are high (Keup, 2022; Allen, 2022).

One giant leap for humankind

The Apollo 11 mission in 1969 is a prime example of teamwork at its finest.

While the world celebrated the achievement of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, the success of the mission resulted from the efforts of a much larger team.

The mission planners, scientists, engineers, and technicians, numbering around 400,000, worked tirelessly for years to make the moon landing a reality. The team’s cohesion was strengthened by the astronauts’ close collaboration with these groups, emphasizing the importance of human connection in any team.

World’s Largest Positive Psychology Resource

The Positive Psychology Toolkit© is a groundbreaking practitioner resource containing over 500 science-based exercises , activities, interventions, questionnaires, and assessments created by experts using the latest positive psychology research.

Updated monthly. 100% Science-based.

“The best positive psychology resource out there!” — Emiliya Zhivotovskaya , Flourishing Center CEO

Wikipedia is the epitome of teamwork in the digital age. It’s a collaborative engine of knowledge that is constantly evolving, thanks to the efforts of an army of volunteer writers and editors.

Unlike traditional encyclopedias, Wikipedia is constantly updated and open to debate and challenge, making it a dynamic and accurate source of information.

While the scale of this teamwork is almost incomprehensible, the site runs smoothly, with errors quickly discovered and corrected. Everyone who has landed on the site is considered a part of the team, making Wikipedia a perfect example of how teamwork can achieve great things in the digital age.

5 Traits of high performing teams

Understanding what stops or limits individual and group performance can help us build and maintain motivated, resilient, and highly effective teams.

The following 10 barriers can present themselves in real-world team environments (Haas & Mortensen, 2016):

• Poor understanding of roles and responsibilities Team members may not fully understand their roles and responsibilities, leading to confusion and lack of accountability.
• Insufficiently defined goals and objectives Team members may not clearly identify what they are working toward, leading to uncertainty and lack of motivation.
• Poor decision-making processes Teams may lack effective decision-making techniques and strategies, leading to delays and suboptimal outcomes.
• Resistance to change Team members may resist change, leading to a lack of flexibility and stagnation.
• Lack of accountability and ownership Team members may not feel accountable for their work and the team’s success.
• Lack of resources or support Teams may not have the necessary resources and support from leadership to achieve their goals effectively.
• Inadequate leadership Teams may not have effective leadership, leading to a lack of direction and guidance.
• Groupthink Team members may be reluctant to challenge the opinions and ideas of others, leading to poor decision-making and an absence of creative thinking.
• Lack of trust and psychological safety among team members Team members may be hesitant to share their ideas and concerns due to a lack of trust in their colleagues or fear of being judged and rejected.
• Inadequate communication Team members may not be effectively communicating with each other, leading to misunderstandings and conflicting priorities.

• Clear communication Encourage team members to speak openly and honestly and actively listen to one another’s ideas and perspectives. Provide training and resources to help team members improve their communication skills.
• Trust and accountability Create an environment where team members feel safe to take risks and be vulnerable with one another. Hold team members accountable for their actions and decisions and provide them with the support and resources they need to succeed.
• Adaptability and flexibility Encourage team members to be open to new ideas and ways of working. Be willing to pivot and change course when necessary.
• Emotional intelligence Provide training and resources to help team members better understand and manage their own emotions and those of others.
• Active listening Encourage team members to fully engage, pay attention to what others are saying, and respond thoughtfully.
• Conflict resolution Teach team members how to navigate and resolve conflicts constructively and effectively.
• Goal alignment Ensure that individual goals align with the team’s overall objectives and that everyone works toward a common purpose.
• Delegation Teach team members how to assign tasks and responsibilities to one another effectively to maximize their strengths and capabilities.
• Problem-solving Teach team members how to identify problems and develop practical solutions.
• Empowerment and autonomy Give team members the freedom and support they need to take ownership of their work and make decisions. Provide regular feedback and coaching to help them improve their skills and advance in their careers.

We have many practical resources for you as a manager or leader supporting your team as they form, develop, and attempt to avoid some challenges of group dynamics.

Our free resources include the following:

• GROW model Use the power of the GROW model to define team goals and boost motivation and cohesion.
• Do the Hula In this novel and fun exercise , the group learns the value of team cooperation.
• Stepping Forward Use this activity to begin and end team building by clarifying expectations for the day.

Our Emotional Intelligence Masterclass© helps boost teamwork by teaching staff to handle emotions better. The training improves communication, relationships, decision-making, job satisfaction, motivation, and overall wellbeing. It also enhances the emotional intelligence of the coach, making them better equipped to lead teams.

The Positive Relationships Masterclass© strengthens teamwork using the “Six Pillars of Positive Relationships.” It offers practical techniques to enhance communication and maintain healthy relationships, leading to improved coaching skills and a thriving workplace.

You will learn the key aspects of positive relationships and explore science-based ways to categorize the different types of positive network members and grow social capital.

Not only that, but we also have specific articles that delve into team-building topics; for example:

• 15 Communication Exercises and Games for the Workplace
• Active Listening: The Art of Empathetic Conversation
• The Importance, Benefits, and Value of Goal Setting

And lastly, if you’re looking for more science-based ways to help your team develop their strengths, check out this collection of 17 strength-finding tools . Use them to help others better understand and harness their strengths in life-enhancing ways.

Research in the psychology of teamwork has shown that effective collaboration can lead to improved productivity, creativity, and job satisfaction among team members (Sawyer, 2007; Salas et al., 2018).

When teams experience a sense of belonging and purpose in their work, they are more likely to achieve their goals and be motivated to perform at their best. It can also lead to improved organizational outcomes, such as achieving goals, making better decisions, and providing higher levels of customer service.

Great teamwork relies on successful team building—the process of creating a cohesive, high-performing team capable of working together successfully. Effective team building can reduce conflicts, turnover, and absenteeism among its members by fostering a positive culture and improving overall morale.

As a manager, you can encourage the best out of your teams by creating a supportive and inclusive environment, encouraging clear communication, and promoting trust, accountability, and active listening.

Additionally, you can provide training and resources to help team members develop the skills they need to work well together, such as problem-solving, conflict resolution , and emotional intelligence. In our resources section, we provide a recommended selection of free and paid resources—all well worth it to build your own highly effective team.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Work & Career Coaching Exercises for free .

• Allen, V. (2022). Teams that changed the world . WorkStyle. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.workstyle.io/top-performing-team-case-studies.
• Bass, B. M., & Ryterband, E. C. (1979). Organizational psychology (2nd ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
• Boogaard, K. (2022). 7 essential teamwork skills . Work Life by Atlassian. Retrieved January 23, 2023, from https://www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/teamwork-skills-accelerate-career/amp
• Davenport, H. (2009). Groups and teams. In I. Brooks (Ed.), Organisational behaviour: Individuals, groups and organisation (pp. 111–155). Essay, Pearson.
• Haas, M., & Mortensen, M. (2016). The secrets of great teamwork . Harvard Business Review. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2016/06/the-secrets-of-great-teamwork.
• Keup, M. (2022). 9 inspirational teamwork examples . ProjectManager. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/teamwork-examples.
• Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2015). Psychological capital and beyond . Oxford University Press.
• Sawyer, K. (2007). Group genius . Basic Books.
• Salas, E., & Cannon-Bowers, J. A. (2001). Teamwork and team training. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 15487–15492). Elsevier.
• Salas, E., Reyes, D. L., & McDaniel, S. H. (2018). The science of teamwork: Progress, reflections, and the road ahead. American Psychologist , 73 (4), 593–600.
• Steps to building an effective team. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2023, from https://hr.berkeley.edu/hr-network/central-guide-managing-hr/managing-hr/interaction/team-building/steps.
• Team building: Introduction. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://hr.berkeley.edu/hr-network/central-guide-managing-hr/managing-hr/interaction/team-building/introduction.
• Tuckman, B. W. (1965.) Development sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin , 63, 384–399.
• Woodcock, M. (1979). Team development manual . Gower.
• Yeager, J. (2021). The coaching zone: Next level leadership in sports . Yeager Leadership Press.

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interesting and well organized food for thought

Some practical examples of effective teams- Love the 7 habits links

Nice article, thank you! Well, I think a strong team consists of strong individuals that are aware of their impact on the company.

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Going to use with my sporting team as a new coach

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4 team effectiveness models to understand your team better

Contributing writer

As a manager, understanding your team is critical; without a deep awareness of your team, you can’t empower them to do their best work.

Sometimes, understanding what’s happening with your team is a straightforward process. But other times, you may need a little help—and that’s where team effectiveness models come in.

Team effectiveness models give you a framework to better understand your team, how they’re functioning, and what you as a manager can do to support their highest level of performance. But what, exactly, are team effectiveness models? How do they work? And how can you use them to understand your team better (and drive performance in the process)?

What Are Team Effectiveness Models?

Team effectiveness models are frameworks to help leaders understand how their teams are functioning. “A team effectiveness model…is a construct to help us understand a system—in this case, how teams can be most effective,” says organizational psychologist and leadership coach Dr. Lisa Barrington .

Not only do team effectiveness models help leaders understand how their teams are functioning—they also help them understand what needs to happen for their teams to function better .

“Team effectiveness models are simple ways to understand how a group of people working together can best accomplish their shared goals,” says leadership and management consultant Liz Wootton . “They provide insight into what people need to do their best work, and to work together to get the best from each other. They can also provide insight into what might hinder the performance of a team, which can be useful [for leaders] in figuring out what could be done differently.”

Depending on what you need to understand about your team, there are a variety of team effectiveness models that may be helpful. “Certain models solve specific problems,” says SIma Shelbayah , Chief Communications Officer of HR consulting firm Yardstick Management . “[For example], some models find what is creating the dysfunction in the group, how groups need to develop within themselves to be successful…[or how to] help employees transition from an individual mindset to a social one.”

Team effectiveness models can be an effective tool for managers because they give you an objective way to evaluate your team. Instead of injecting your own opinions onto the situation, a team effectiveness model gives you a clear, evidence-based framework for understanding what’s happening with your team—which can help you develop more effective approaches and solutions.

“There’s science about what makes teams aligned, effective and efficient—what makes them perform,” says Aaron Schmooker , co-founder and CEO of leadership and culture training company The Yes Works . “Having a model can help get away from…[personal management style and ideas] and into what’s proven and demonstrably effective.”

Clearly, team effectiveness models can be a helpful management tool. But what are some models you can use to better understand your team?

The Lencioni Model

Based on a book by Patrick Lencion i, The Lencioni Model “lays out five areas where teams commonly lose traction as a team—and therefore don’t produce results,” says Schmooker.

Or, in other words, instead of looking at what makes teams effective, the Lencioni Model looks at the five elements that make teams in effective—or what Leonici calls “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.”

According to the Lencioni Model, the core dysfunctional elements of a team are:

• Absence of trust : If your team doesn’t trust you—or each other—they won’t take the steps necessary to do their best work (for example, ask for help or collaborate with a teammate). 
• Fear of conflict: Healthy conflict is a necessary component of innovation and performance—and if your team is afraid of conflict, it could cause them to stagnate and not live up to their full potential. 
• Lack of commitment : Good work takes commitment—and if you have team members that aren’t committed to doing good work, it can bring the rest of the team down.
• Avoidance of accountability: In order to be successful, teams have to hold themselves and each other accountable; if there’s no accountability , there’s no success. 
• Inattention to results : If the team isn’t focused on their collective goals, they’ll never hit them.

The Lencioni Model is structured like a pyramid, with trust at the bottom of the period and inattention at the top—and according to this model, in order to effectively deal with these dysfunctions, you need to start at the bottom and work your way up. (So, for example, you can’t deal with fear of conflict until you address the absence of trust—and you can’t address the avoidance of accountability until you’ve solved your team’s commitment issues.)

How The Lencioni Model Helps You Understand Your Team Better

The Lencioni Model can help you understand what’s not working with your team and where it falls on the pyramid—which can help you identify the most pressing issues and the different steps you’ll need to take to get your team to their highest level of effectiveness.

Tuckman’s Team Development Model

Developed by psychologist Bruce Tuckman, the Tuckman Team Development Model describes “the development of efficiency within the team—and what it will take to get there,” says Shelbayah. 

The Tuckman Team Development Model breaks down the evolution of an effective team into four stages:

• Forming: This is the stage where your team is just coming together. During this stage, each member of the team is feeling things out; they’re not sure how they fit into the team, how the team is going to work, how you’re going to manage them, and whether they’re going to be successful. 
• Storming: During the storming phase, the team is still getting to know each other. But as they become more familiar, power struggles can emerge. Individual team members may try to set the tone for the rest of the team about how to work or how the team should function—which could cause other team members to push back and lead to conflict. During this stage, team members may also challenge or question your authority as a leader.
• Norming: During the norming stage, the team finds a relative groove. They have a better understanding of how the team works (and how you manage the team). They also feel more comfortable collaborating with other team members, receiving feedback , navigating their responsibilities (both individually and collectively) and asking for help or support.
• Performing: The performing phase is where the magic happens. At this stage, your team trusts and respects each other. They understand how the team works, how they fit into the team, and what they need to do to succeed. The team is also invested in your leadership and feels driven and engaged—all of which leads to high levels of performance.

As teams get to know and trust each other more, they progress through each stage—and become stronger and more effective throughout the progression. Although it’s important to keep in mind, Tuckman’s Team Development Model isn’t necessarily linear; you might bounce between phases. For example, you may be riding a high at the performing phase only to fall back to the storming phase after introducing new members to your team.

How Tuckman’s Model Helps You Understand Your Team Better

Understanding what phase your team is in at any given moment can help guide your leadership decisions—and ensure the way you’re managing your team is ultimately moving them towards their highest level of performance . For example, if your team is in the norming phase, you know that you need to work on setting clear expectations and building trust between team members. When your team is in the norming phase, you might focus more on goal-setting and pushing your team to take things to the next level.

The Tuckman Team Development Model can also give you some perspective into the effort and time it takes to build high-performing teams. “This is effective to managers—and team members—by allowing them to understand that…[building an effective team] can’t always be a smooth and quick…process,” says Shelbayah.

The GRPI Model 

Developed by organizational theorist Richard Beckhard in the early 1970s, the GRPI Model examines team effectiveness through four different elements:

• Goals: In order for teams to be their most effective, they need to have clear goals, both on an individual and team level. 
• Roles: When it comes to roles, there are two things to keep in mind. The team needs to be clear on who is in the leadership role and each team member needs a clear understanding of their individual role and responsibilities—and how that fits in with the team. Without that clarity and leadership, things won’t get done.
• Processes: In order to perform at a high level, teams need clear processes and procedures for how work will get done.
• Interpersonal Relationships: In order for a team to succeed, there needs to be a foundation of strong relationships—relationships that include trust, respect, and solid communication.

Similar to the Lencioni Model, the GRPI Model is structured like a pyramid, with Interpersonal Relationships at the base of the pyramid and Goals at the peak. “When looking at the pyramid from interpersonal relationships up, managers are then able to look for…[the] cause of a dysfunction within the team,” says Shelbayah.

How The GRPI Model Helps You Understand Your Team Better

The GRPI Model can help you identify what effectiveness drivers are missing from your team—and can give you a roadmap for what you need to do to create those drivers (and in what order to do them). 

For example, if you realize your team isn’t hitting their goals, you can look at the earlier parts of the pyramid to see where the disconnect is coming from—whether that’s a lack of clear processes for how you want work to be done or a lack of trust and communication between team members.

The T7 Model

The T7 Model was developed in the mid-90’s and looks at the internal and external factors that lead to effective teams. “The T7 model focuses on what factors affect a team’s capabilities,” says Shelbayah.

There are five internal and two external factors that factor into team effectiveness:

Internal factors

• Thrust: The team has shared goals and a shared sense of purpose.
• Trust: The team is built on a foundation of trust; team members trust each other and the team leader or manager.
• Talent : Each team member has the skills, expertise, and background necessary to perform at a high level and contribute to the team in a meaningful way.
• Team Skills : The team knows how to effectively collaborate and perform as a unit.
• Task Skills : The team can get tasks done (and get them done on time).

External factors

• Team Leader Fit: The team leader has a management style that works for the team. They lead the team with respect and know how to inspire their team’s best work. 
• Team Support Within The Organization: The organization gives the team the support, resources, and attention they need to do their best work.

According to the T7 Model, in order for teams to perform and reach their full potential, all seven factors must be at play; if any factor is lacking, it can cause issues with the team and lead to lower performance.

How The T7 Model Helps You Understand Your Team Better

Understanding all of the elements that go into building a successful team can help you identify what may be missing in your team—and can help you figure out where to focus your attention to make your team stronger. 

For example, if your team is struggling with an internal factor (like Talent or Trust), you know you need to focus your attention on your employees. While if your issues are a result of an external factor (like a lack of organizational support), you know you need to turn your attention to your company leadership—and push to get your team the support and resources they need to thrive.

Tips For Using Team Effectiveness Models To Better Understand Your Team

Need more insights into how to make team effectiveness models work for you? Here are a few tips to help you use these models to better understand your team:

Pick A Model And Stick With It

Clearly, there are a variety of team effectiveness models. But if you try to implement too many at once, it can be challenging to understand what, exactly, is going on with your team. That’s why, if you want to incorporate team effectiveness models into your management strategy, it’s best to choose just one. “Pick one model to focus on,” says Wootton. “Choose one which you feel you connect with, and stick with that. There are similarities between most models, so it may be tempting to mix and match, but keep it simple.”

Get Your Team Involved

Team effectiveness models don’t just help you understand your team better. If you get your team involved—for example, by asking them for their insights into where they think they fall into a team effectiveness model—it can help them better understand themselves. “Involve the team in the process. This will help create buy-in,” says Wootton. “When a team comes up with their own ideas, they are more likely to follow them.”

Bring In The Experts

“In my experience, effective leaders recognize the value of partnering with someone outside the team to introduce, facilitate, and help bring the model to life,” says Barrington. So, if you’re new to team effectiveness models and aren’t quite sure how to use these models to drive positive change within your team, you should definitely consider enlisting the help of an expert. “Get help,” says Schmooker. “An excellent organizational expert can help you navigate the subtleties, and, most importantly, turn these ideas into operational behaviors.” 

Team effectiveness models are helpful tools—but they’re not going to magically transform your team overnight. So be patient with yourself and your team (especially if you’re new to team effectiveness models). “Understand that there is a large gap between understanding the theory and putting it into practice,” says Wootton. “Don’t expect it to be perfect straight away. Don’t expect it to happen overnight.

Use Team Effectiveness Models To Better Understand Your Team—And Increase Effectiveness In The Process

Team effective models give you a framework to better understand your team, what they’re experiencing, and how you can empower their best work. And now that you know how to use team effectiveness models to deepen your understanding of your team, all that’s left to do? Get out there and apply one of these models to your team—and watch effectiveness skyrocket as a result.

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Committee on the Science of Team Science; Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; National Research Council; Cooke NJ, Hilton ML, editors. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2015 Jul 15.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science.

• Hardcopy Version at National Academies Press

3 Overview of the Research on Team Effectiveness

This chapter summarizes the research literature on team effectiveness, highlighting findings on the key features that create challenges for team science outlined in Chapter 1 . Based on its review of the literature (e.g., Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro, 2001 ; Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006 ; Salas, Goodwin, and Burke, 2009 ), the committee defines team effectiveness as follows:

Team effectiveness, also referred to as team performance, is a team's capacity to achieve its goals and objectives. This capacity to achieve goals and objectives leads to improved outcomes for the team members (e.g., team member satisfaction and willingness to remain together) as well as outcomes produced or influenced by the team. In a science team or larger group, the outcomes include new research findings or methods and may also include translational applications of the research.

More than half a century of research on team effectiveness ( Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006) provides a foundation for identifying team process factors that contribute to team effectiveness, as well as actions and interventions that can be used to shape the quality of those processes. As noted in Chapter 1 , this evidence base consists primarily of studies focusing on teams in contexts outside of science, such as the military, business, and health care. These teams share many of the seven features that can create challenges for team science introduced in Chapter 1 . For example, in corporations, top management teams and project teams are often composed of members from diverse corporate functions, and these teams seek to deeply integrate their diverse expertise in order to achieve business goals. Therefore, the committee believes the evidence on teams in other contexts can be translated and applied to improve the effectiveness of science teams and larger groups.

This chapter begins by presenting critical background information—highlighting key considerations for understanding team effectiveness and presenting theoretical models that conceptualize team processes as the primary mechanisms for promoting team effectiveness. The chapter then highlights those team process factors shown to influence team effectiveness ( Kozlowski and Bell, 2003 , 2013 ; Ilgen et al., 2005 ; Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006 ; Mathieu et al., 2008) , based on well-established research (i.e., meta-analytic findings [see Box 3-1 ] or systematic streams of empirical research). Next, the discussion turns to interventions that can be used to improve team processes and thereby contribute to team effectiveness; these are discussed in greater detail in subsequent chapters. This is followed by a discussion of how this foundational knowledge can inform team science, a description of models of team science and effectiveness, and a discussion of areas in which further research is needed to address the challenges emerging from the seven features outlined in Chapter 1 .

What Is a Meta-Analysis. The foundation of scientific research is based on primary studies that collect data under a given set of conditions (i.e., experiments or field studies) and examine effects on, or relationships among, the observed variables of (more...)

• BACKGROUND: KEY CONSIDERATIONS AND THEORETICAL MODELS AND FRAMEWORKS

Key Considerations

One key consideration regarding team effectiveness is that it is inherently multilevel, composed of individual-, team-, and higher-level influences that unfold over time ( Kozlowski and Klein, 2000 ). This means that, at a minimum, three levels of the system need to be conceptually embraced to understand team effectiveness (i.e., within person over time, individuals within team, and between team or contextual effects; Kozlowski, 2012) . Broader systems that encompass the organization, multiple teams, or networks are obviously even more complex. Moreover, individual scientists may be part of multiple research projects spread across many unique teams and thus are “partially included” in their teams ( Allport, 1932) . As noted in Chapter 1 , a recent study suggests that scientists' level of participation (i.e., inclusion) in a team is related to team performance, with higher participation related to increased performance ( Cummings and Haas, 2012) .

A second critical consideration for understanding, managing, and improving team effectiveness is the degree of complexity of the workflow structure of the team task ( Steiner, 1972) . In simple structures, team members' individual contributions are pooled together or constructed in a fixed serial sequence. For example, in a multidisciplinary team, members trained in different disciplines combine their expertise in an additive way. Complex structures incorporate the integration of knowledge and tasks through collaboration and feedback links, making the quality of team member interaction more important to team effectiveness.

A final key consideration is the dynamic interactions and evolution of the team over time. According to Kozlowski and Klein (2000 , p. 55):

A phenomenon is emergent when it originates in the cognition, affect, behaviors, or other characteristics of individuals, is amplified by their interactions, and manifests as a higher-level, collective phenomenon.

In other words, emergent phenomena arise from interactions and exchange among individuals over time to yield team-level characteristics. Emergent phenomena unfold over time as part of the team development process. Time is also pertinent with respect to how teams themselves evolve. For example, Cash et al. (2003) reported on the evolution of a transdisciplinary group focused on developing improved varieties of wheat and corn. The authors reported that a strictly sequential approach—in which scientists first developed new crops in the laboratory or field and then later handed them over to native farmers—did not lead to widespread use of the new crops. However, when the native farmers were brought into the research at an earlier point in time, as valued participants and partners with the scientists, the group produced new crops that were widely used. Relatedly, teams have different time frames for interaction (i.e., their life cycle or longevity), and this too will alter the emergent dynamics (e.g., Kozlowski et al., 1999 ; Kozlowski and Klein, 2000 ; Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro, 2001 ).

Theoretical Models and Frameworks

Most of the research on team effectiveness has been substantially influenced by the input-process-output (IPO) heuristic posed by McGrath (1964) . Inputs comprise (a) the collection of individual differences across team members that determine team composition; (b) team design characteristics (e.g., information, resources); and (c) the nature of the problem that is the focus of the team's work activity. Processes comprise the means by which team members' cognition, motivation, affect, and behavior enable (or inhibit) members to combine their resources to meet task demands.

Although team processes are conceptually dynamic, researchers generally assess them at a single point in time. Hence, they are often represented in the research literature by static perceptions or emergent states ( Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro, 2001 ). More recently, team processes have been represented by dynamic or sequential patterns of communications ( Gorman, Amazeen, and Cooke, 2010 ) or actions ( Kozlowski, in press ). In this report, the committee uses the term “team processes” to refer to both dynamic team processes (e.g., communication patterns) and the emergent perceptual states that result from these processes (e.g., cohesion).

Contemporary theories of team effectiveness build on the IPO heuristic but are more explicit regarding its inherent dynamics. For example, Kozlowski et al. (1996 , 1999 ) and Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro (2001) emphasized the cyclical and episodic nature of the IPO linkages. Similarly, Ilgen et al. (2005) and Mathieu et al. (2008) are explicit about the feedback loop linking team outputs and subsequent inputs. Accordingly, various authors have urged more attention to team dynamics in research (e.g., Cronin, Weingart, and Todorova, 2011 ; Cooke et al., 2013) and advances in research design ( Kozlowski et al., 2013 ; Kozlowski, in press ) to better capture these dynamics and more clearly specify the relationships between variables. Moving from broad heuristics to more well-defined theoretical models would benefit the field.

In their monograph, Kozlowski and Ilgen (2006) adopted the dynamic IPO conceptualization and focused on those team processes with well-established, empirically supported contributions to team effectiveness. They then considered actions and interventions in three aspects of a team—composition, training, and leadership—that shape team processes and thus can be used to enhance team effectiveness (as shown in the shaded areas of Figure 3-1 ). Given the preponderance of literature that follows the IPO conceptualization, we emulate that approach in this chapter.

Theoretical framework and review focus. SOURCE: Reproduced from Kozlowski and Ilgen (2006). Reprinted with permission.

• TEAM PROCESSES: THE UNDERPINNINGS OF TEAM EFFECTIVENESS

Team processes are the means by which team members marshal and coordinate their individual resources—cognitive, affective, and behavioral—to meet task demands necessary for collective goal accomplishment. When a team's cognitive, motivational, and behavioral resources are appropriately aligned with task demands, the team is effective. Thus, team processes are the primary leverage point for enhancing team effectiveness. The committee's review in this section examines team cognitive, motivational and affective, and behavioral processes, discussed below.

Cognitive Team Processes

Teams have been characterized as information processing systems ( Hinsz, Tindale, and Vollrath, 1997 ) such that their collective cognition drives task-relevant interactions. Here we discuss several cognitive and perceptual processes that are related to team effectiveness: team mental models and transactive memory, cognitive team interaction, team climate, and psychological safety.

Team Mental Models and Transactive Memory

Team mental models are conceptualized as shared understandings about “task requirements, procedures, and role responsibilities” that guide team performance ( Cannon-Bowers, Salas, and Converse, 1993 , p. 222). Whereas team mental models represent common understandings, transactive memory captures the distribution of unique knowledge across team members ( Wegner, Giuliano, and Hertel, 1985 ), especially their shared understanding of “who knows what” such that they can access and direct relevant knowledge ( Liang, Moreland, and Argote, 1995 ; Austin, 2003 ; Lewis, 2003 , 2004 ; Lewis, Lange, and Gillis, 2005 ; Lewis et al., 2007) . Meta-analytic findings indicate that both processes are positively related to team processes (ρ = .43) and team performance (i.e., effectiveness) (ρ = .38) ( DeChurch and Mesmer-Magnus, 2010) .

Studies of science teams and larger groups have also found that shared mental models enhance team effectiveness. To cite just a few examples, a study of research and development teams in India ( Misra, 2011) found that shared mental models were positively related to team creativity. A study focusing on larger groups of European scientists participating in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary environmental research found that those groups whose members developed a shared understanding of the research goals were much more likely to succeed in synthesizing their perspectives to achieve those goals than those who did not develop shared understandings ( Defila, DiGiulio, and Scheuermann, 2006 ). In a recent qualitative study of the National Cancer Institute's Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer Center, investigators and trainees reported that articulating concrete shared goals (through grant applications, for example) and investing time and effort in developing mutual understanding were essential to successfully carrying out their research projects ( Vogel et al., 2014) .

Both team mental models and transactive memory have the potential to be shaped in ways that enhance team effectiveness. For example, a number of studies demonstrate that mental models can be influenced by training, leadership, shared or common experiences, and contextual conditions ( Cannon-Bowers, 2007 ; see also Kozlowski and Bell, 2003 , 2013 ; Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006 ; Mathieu et al., 2008 ; Mohammed, Ferzandi, and Hamilton, 2010 , for reviews). Similarly, transactive memory systems are formed through shared experiences in working together and training ( Bell et al., 2011 ; see also Blickensderfer, Cannon-Bowers, and Salas, 1997 ; Kozlowski and Bell, 2003 , 2013 ; Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006 ; Mathieu et al., 2008 ; Mohammed, Ferzandi, and Hamilton, 2010 , for reviews). Accordingly, it is often recommended that training be designed to foster development of appropriate team mental models and transactive memory systems and that leaders shape early team developmental experiences to build shared mental models and transactive memory ( Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006) .

Cognitive Team Interaction

Team mental models and transactive memory focus on cognitive structure or knowledge and how that knowledge is shared or distributed among team members. Although knowledge certainly contributes to team cognition, it is not equivalent to team-level cognitive processing. Teams often actively engage in cognitive processes, such as decision making, problem solving, situation assessment, planning, and knowledge sharing ( Brannick et al., 1995 ; Letsky et al., 2008) . The interdependence of team members necessitates cognitive interaction or coordination, often manifested through communication, the essential building block of team cognition ( Cooke et al., 2013) . These interactions facilitate information and knowledge sharing processes that are foundational to decision making, problem solving, and the other collaborative cognitive processes mentioned above ( Fiore et al., 2010a) .

The theory of interactive team cognition proposes that team interaction, often in the form of explicit communication, is at the heart of team cognition and in many cases accounts more than knowledge inputs for variance in team effectiveness ( Cooke et al., 2013) . In addition, unlike internalized knowledge states, team interaction in the form of communication is readily observable and can be examined over time, thus providing ready access to the temporal dynamics involved ( Cooke, Gorman, and Kiekel, 2008 ; Gorman, Amazeen, and Cooke, 2010 ).

Another approach to team cognition, focused more on the development of shared problem models, is the macrocognition in teams model ( Fiore et al., 2010b) . This model is based upon a multidisciplinary theoretical integration that captures the cognitive processes engaged when teams collaboratively solve novel and complex problems. It draws from theories of externalized cognition, team cognition, group communication and problem solving, and collaborative learning ( Fiore et al., 2010a) . It focuses on team processes supporting movement between internalization and externalization of cognition as teams build knowledge in service of problem solving. Recently the model has been examined in complex contexts such as problem solving for mission control, in which scientists and engineers were required to collaborate to understand and solve problems on the International Space Station (Fiore et al., 2014).

As with other interpersonal processes, interventions can improve cognitive interaction and ultimately team effectiveness. Training that exposes teams to different ways of interacting ( Gorman, Cooke, and Amazeen, 2010 ), as well as team composition changes ( Fouse et al., 2011 ; Gorman and Cooke, 2011) , have been found to lead to more adaptive and flexible teams. Similarly, training or professional development designed to support knowledge-building activities has been shown to enhance collaborative problem solving and decision making, leading to improved effectiveness ( Rentsch et al., 2010 , 2014 ). These and other professional development approaches are discussed in more detail in Chapter 5 .

Science teams and larger groups, like teams in general, are interdependent and require interaction to build new knowledge. They need to manage a range of technological and social factors to coordinate their tasks and goals effectively. Salazar et al. (2012) have proposed a model of team science, discussed later in this chapter, in which social integration processes support cognitive integration processes. These processes can help foster deep knowledge integration in science teams or larger groups.

Many of the features that create challenges for team science described in Chapter 1 introduce challenges to cognitive interaction, and, therefore, interventions that bolster cognitive interaction, such as professional development or training to expose teams to different ways of interacting, may be particularly helpful for science teams.

Team Climate

Climate represents shared perceptions about the strategic imperatives that guide the orientation and actions of team or group members ( Schneider and Reichers, 1983 ; Kozlowski and Hults, 1987) . It is always shaped by a particular team or organizational strategy. For example, if a team's goal is to innovate, then the team may have a climate of innovation ( Anderson and West, 1998) ; if the goal is to provide high-quality service, then the team may have a service climate ( Schneider, Wheeler, and Cox, 1992 ); if safety is critical for team or organizational success, then the team or the larger organization may have a safety climate ( Zohar, 2000) .

Climate has been studied for more than seven decades, and the relationship of climate to important work outcomes is well established (e.g., Carr et al., 2003 ; Zohar and Hofmann, 2012 ; Schneider and Barbera, 2013) .

Several types of interventions can shape team or group climate. For example, organizations communicate strategic imperatives through policies, practices, and procedures that define the mission, goals, and tasks for teams and larger groups within the organization ( James and Jones, 1974) . Team leaders shape climate through what they communicate to their teams from higher levels of management and what they emphasize to their team members ( Kozlowski and Doherty, 1989 ; Zohar, 2000 , 2002 ; Zohar and Luria, 2004 ; Schaubroeck et al., 2012) . And team members interact, share their interpretations, and develop shared understandings of what is important in their setting (Rentsch, 1990).

Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is a shared perception among team members indicative of an interpersonal climate that supports risk taking and learning ( Edmondson, 1999) . The research on psychological safety has been focused primarily on its role in promoting effective error management and learning behaviors in teams ( Bell and Kozlowski, 2011 ; Bell et al., 2011) . Learning from errors (i.e., to identify, reflect, and diagnose them and develop appropriate solutions) is particularly important in science as well as in other teams charged with innovation ( Edmondson and Nembhard, 2009) , and therefore, fostering psychological safety may be uniquely valuable for science teams and larger groups. Although research on this process has not yet been summarized in a published meta-analysis, support for its importance is provided by a systematic stream of theory and research (e.g., Edmondson, 1996 , 1999 , 2002 , 2003 ; Edmondson, Bohmer, and Pisano, 2001 ; Edmondson, Dillon, and Roloff, 2007 ).

Research on psychological safety has focused on the role of team leaders in coaching, reducing power differentials, and fostering inclusion to facilitate psychological safety, so that team members feel comfortable discussing and learning from errors and developing innovative solutions (e.g., Edmondson, Bohmer, and Pisano, 2001 ; Edmondson, 2003 ; Nembhard and Edmondson, 2006) . Hall et al. (2012a) proposed that creating an environment of psychological safety is critical to lay the groundwork for effective transdisciplinary collaboration. Thus, the research base suggests that appropriate team leadership is a promising way to promote psychological safety, learning, and innovation in science teams and larger groups.

Motivational and Affective Team Processes

Key factors that capture motivational team processes—team cohesion, team efficacy, and team conflict—have well-established relations with team effectiveness.

Team Cohesion

Team cohesion—defined by Festinger (1950 , p. 274) to be “the resultant of all the forces acting on the members to remain in the group”—is among the most frequently studied team processes. It is multidimensional, with facets focused on task commitment, social relations, and group pride, although this latter facet has received far less research attention ( Beal et al., 2003) . Our primary focus is on team task and social cohesion because that is where most of the supporting research is centered.

There have been multiple meta-analyses of team cohesion, with two of the more recent ones ( Gully, Devine, and Whitney, 1995 ; Beal et al., 2003) being the most thorough and rigorous. Both papers concluded that team cohesion is positively related to team effectiveness and that the relationship is moderated by task interdependence such that the cohesion-effectiveness relationship is stronger when team members are more interdependent. For example, Gully et al. (1995) reported that the corrected effect size (ρ) for cohesion and performance was .20 when interdependence was low, but .46 when task interdependence was high. Because high task interdependence is one of the features that creates challenges for team science, fostering cohesion may be particularly valuable for enhancing effectiveness in science teams and larger groups.

Remarkably, although team cohesion has been studied for more than 60 years, very little of the research has focused on antecedents to its development or interventions to foster it. Theory suggests that team composition factors (e.g., personality, demographics; see Chapter 4 ) and developmental efforts by team leaders (e.g., Kozlowski et al., 1996 , 2009 ) are likely to play an important role in its formation and maintenance.

Team Efficacy

At the individual level, research has established the important contribution of self-efficacy perceptions to goal accomplishment ( Stajkovic and Luthans, 1998) . Generalized to the team or organizational level, similar, shared perceptions are referred to as team efficacy ( Bandura, 1977) . Team efficacy influences the difficulty of goals a team sets or accepts, effort directed toward goal accomplishment, and persistence in the face of difficulties and challenges. The contribution of team efficacy to team performance is well established (ρ = .41) ( Gully et al., 2002) , across a wide variety of team types and work settings ( Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006) . As with team cohesion, Gully et al. (2002) reported that team efficacy is more strongly related to team performance when team members are more interdependent (ρ = .09 when interdependence is low, and ρ = .47 when interdependence is high).

Antecedents of team efficacy have not received a great deal of research attention. However, findings about self-efficacy antecedents at the individual level can be extrapolated to the team level. These antecedents include individual differences in goal orientation (i.e., learning, performance, and avoidance orientation; Dweck, 1986 ; VandeWalle, 1997) and experiences such as enactive mastery, vicarious observation, and verbal persuasion ( Bandura, 1977) . To develop team efficacy, leaders may consider goal orientation characteristics when selecting team members, but these characteristics can also be primed (i.e., encouraged) by leaders. Similarly, leaders can create mastery experiences, provide opportunities for team members to observe others succeeding, and persuade a team that it is efficacious (see Kozlowski and Ilgen, 2006 , for a review).

Team Conflict

Team or group conflict is a multidimensional construct with facets of relationship, task, and process conflict:

Relationship conflicts involve disagreements among group members about interpersonal issues, such as personality differences or differences in norms and values. Task conflicts entail disagreements among group members about the content and outcomes of the task being performed, whereas process conflicts are disagreements among group members about the logistics of task accomplishment, such as the delegation of tasks and responsibilities ( de Wit, Greer, and Jehn, 2012 , p. 360).

Although conflict is generally viewed as divisive, early work in this area concluded that although relationship and process conflict were negative factors for team performance, task conflict could be helpful for information sharing and problem solving provided it did not spill over to prompt relationship conflict (e.g., Jehn, 1995 , 1997 ). However, a meta-analysis by De Dreu and Weingart (2003) found that relationship and task conflict were both negatively related to team performance. A more recent meta-analysis ( de Wit, Greer, and Jehn, 2012 ) has shown that the relationships are more nuanced. For example, all three types of conflict had deleterious associations with a variety of group factors including trust, satisfaction, organizational citizenship, and commitment. In addition, relationship and process conflict had negative associations with cohesion and team performance, although the task conflict association with these factors was nil. Thus, this more recent meta-analysis suggests that task conflict may not be a negative factor under some circumstances, but the issue is complex.

Group composition that yields demographic diversity and group faultlines or fractures is associated with team conflict ( Thatcher and Patel, 2011) . Because diverse membership is one of the features that creates challenges for team science introduced in Chapter 1 , science teams and groups can anticipate the potential for conflict. Many scholars suggest that teams and groups should be prepared to manage conflict when it manifests as a destructive and counterproductive force. Two conflict management strategies can be distinguished ( Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro, 2001 )—reactive (i.e., working through disagreements via problem solving, compromise, and flexibility) or preemptive (i.e., anticipating and guiding conflict in advance via cooperative norms, charters, or other structures to shape conflict processes) ( Kozlowski and Bell, 2013 ).

Team Behavioral Processes

Ultimately, team members have to act to combine their intellectual resources and effort. Researchers have sought to measure the combined behaviors of the team members, or team behavioral processes, in several ways, including by looking at team process competencies and team self-regulation.

Team Process Competencies

One line of research in this area focuses on the underpinnings of good teamwork based on individual competencies (i.e., knowledge and skill) relevant to working well with others. For example, Stevens and Campion (1994) developed a typology of individual teamwork competencies with two primary dimensions (interpersonal knowledge and self-management knowledge) that are each assessed with a set of more specific subdimensions. Based on this typology, they also developed an assessment tool, although empirical evaluations of this tool have yielded somewhat mixed results ( Stevens and Campion, 1999) .

Others have focused on behavioral processes at the team level. Integrating many years of effort, Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro (2001) developed a taxonomy of team behavioral processes focusing on three temporal phases: (1) transition, which involves preparation (e.g., mission, goals, strategy) before task engagement and reflection (e.g., diagnosis, improvement) after; (2) action, which involves active task engagement (e.g., monitoring progress, coordination); and (3) interpersonal processes (e.g., conflict management, motivation), which are viewed as always important.

A recent analysis by LePine and colleagues (2008) extended the Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro (2001) taxonomy to a hierarchical model that conceptualized the discrete behavioral processes as first-order factors loading onto second-order transition, action, and interpersonal factors, which are then loaded onto a third-order, overarching team process factor. Their meta-analytic confirmatory factor analysis found that the first- and second-order processes were positively related to team performance (mostly in the range of ρ = .25 to in excess of .30.).

Team Self-Regulation

For teams focused on reasonably well-specified goals, team processes and performance can be related to the team's motivation and self-regulation, similar to models of the relationship between motivation and performance at the individual level. Feelings of individual and team self-efficacy, discussed above ( Gully et al., 2002) , are jointly part of a multilevel dynamic motivational system of team self-regulation. Team self-regulation affects how team members allocate their resources to perform tasks and adapt as necessary to accomplish goals ( DeShon et al., 2004 ; Chen, Thomas, and Wallace, 2005 ; Chen et al., 2009) . In addition, there is meta-analytic support for the efficacy of group goals for group performance ( O'Leary-Kelly, Martocchio, and Frink, 1994 ; Kleingeld, van Mierlo, and Arends, 2011 ).

Finally, there is meta-analytic support ( Pritchard et al., 2008) for the effectiveness of an intervention designed to increase team regulation by measuring performance and providing structured feedback—the Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES; Pritchard et al., 1988) . On average and relative to baseline, productivity under ProMES increased 1.16 standard deviations.

Measuring Team Processes

To assess team processes and intervene to improve them, team processes must be measured. Team process factors such as making a contribution to the team's work, keeping the team on track, and appropriately interacting with teammates have traditionally been measured through self or peer reports of team members ( Loughry, Ohland, and Moore, 2007 ; Ohland et al., 2012) .

Instruments relying on behavioral observation scales and ratings of trained judges have also been used to measure processes associated with collaborative problem solving and conflict resolution as well as self-management processes such as planning and task coordination ( Taggar and Brown, 2001) . Brannick et al. (1995) evaluated judges' ratings of processes of assertiveness, decision making/mission analysis, adaptability/flexibility, situation awareness, leadership, and communication. The ratings were found to be psychometrically sound and with reasonable discriminant validity, though the importance of task context was also noted: that is, process needs to be assessed in relation to the ongoing task. “Team dimensional training” was developed to measure a set of core team processes of action teams (e.g., Smith-Jentsch et al., 1998) and has since been validated in numerous settings (e.g., Smith-Jentsch et al., 2008) . Another approach that provides for context is the use of checklists of specific processes that are targeted for observation ( Fowlkes et al., 1994) .

Researchers have measured cognitive processes somewhat differently, relying typically on indirect knowledge elicitation methods such as card sorting to identify team mental models ( Mohammed, Klimoski, and Rentsch, 2000 ) and assess their accuracy (e.g., Smith-Jentsch et al., 2009) . In addition, concept maps corresponding to team member mental models have been developed by instructing participants to directly create them (e.g., Marks, Zaccaro, and Mathieu, 2000 ; Mathieu et al., 2000) or by indirectly creating them through similarity ratings of pairs of concepts analyzed using graphical techniques such as Pathfinder ( Schvaneveldt, 1990) . Transactive memory systems focusing on team members' knowledge of what each member knows have been measured both via self-assessment ( Lewis, 2003) and via communications coding ( Hollingshead, 1998 ; Ellis, 2006) . Cooke et al. (2000) reviewed different measurement approaches for measuring team mental models (including process tracing and conceptual methods), pointing out challenges related to knowledge similarity for heterogeneous team members and methods of aggregation.

Recent work in this area has focused on developing measures that are unobtrusive to the teamwork and can capture its complex dynamics (e.g., videorecording, team work simulations, and sociometric badges; Kozlowski, in press ). Communication data, for example, can be captured with relatively little interference and provide a continuous record of team interaction ( Cooke, Gorman, and Kiekel, 2008 ; Cooke and Gorman, 2009) . This research has identified changes in patterns of simple communication flow (who talks to whom) that are associated with changes in the state of the team (such as loss of situation awareness or conflict). These continuous methods provide a rich view of team process, not captured by static snapshots in time.

• INTERVENTIONS THAT SHAPE TEAM PROCESSES AND EFFECTIVENESS

Table 3-1 identifies actions and interventions that have been found to influence team processes related to three aspects of a team—its composition, professional development, and leadership. This section and the associated three chapters that follow provide detail on each of these three aspects.

Team Processes Related to Team Effectiveness: Interventions and Support.

Team Composition: Individual Inputs to Shape Team Processes

Team composition results from the process of assembling a combination of team members with the expertise, knowledge, and skills necessary for accomplishing team goals and tasks. At the individual level, the logic of staffing is based on selecting individuals with knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that fit job requirements. At the team level, staffing is more complex because one is composing a combination of members who must collaborate well, not merely matching each person to a well-defined job ( Klimoski and Jones, 1995) . Chapter 4 takes a detailed look at how team composition and assembly are related to team processes and effectiveness.

Professional Development to Shape Team Processes

Once a team has been assembled, its effectiveness can be facilitated by formal professional development programs (in the research literature, these are referred to as training programs). Although much of the research on team training has focused on programs developed for military teams ( Swezey and Salas, 1992 ; Cannon-Bowers and Salas, 1998 ), these teams face many of the same process challenges as science teams and groups, resulting from features, such as high diversity of membership, geographic distribution, and deep knowledge integration. Further evidence supporting training as an intervention to facilitate positive team processes is reviewed in Chapter 5 , along with discussion of educational programs dedicated to preparing individuals for future participation in team science.

Leadership to Shape Team Processes

Research has shown the influence of leadership on team and organizational effectiveness. Most of this research, however, focuses on the leader, rather than the team, and measures the effectiveness of the leader based on individual perceptions rather than measuring team effectiveness. The leadership literature is also rich with theories of leadership, some of which seem particularly relevant for science teams and larger groups. There is also promising new work on the concept of shared leadership by all team members. Moreover, recent meta-analytic findings provide support for the positive relationship between shared leadership and team effectiveness (42 samples, ρ = .34; Wang, Waldman, and Zhang, 2014 ), suggesting that it may be a useful concept for science teams. Team science leadership is discussed further in Chapter 6 .

• CONNECTING THE LITERATURE TO TEAM SCIENCE

New Models of Team Science

Researchers have developed and begun to study models of team science and effectiveness. Moving beyond traditional models of group development, such as Tuckman's (1965) phases of storming, norming, forming, and performing, these models incorporate elements specific to science teams and larger groups, such as deep knowledge in interdisciplinary teams, to meet scientific and societal goals. They provide different windows into team science and serve different purposes with respect to team science practice and policy. For instance, Hall et al. (2012b) proposed a model that serves as a heuristic for considering the broad research process. The model delineates four dynamic and recursive phases: development, conceptualization, implementation, and translation (see Box 3-2 ). Key team and group processes from the literature on teams and organizations are then linked to each of four phases. One of the unique contributions of this model is to highlight the breadth of collaborative and intellectual work that can be done in the early stages of developing a team science research project. Currently, such work in the development phase is often carried out hastily because of resource constraints. This part of the model helps to highlight the need for planning, institutional support, and funding specifically for the development phase. Overall, the model emphasizes key team and larger group processes that may, across the four phases, increase the comprehensiveness and sophistication of the science and effectiveness of the collaboration.

Two Models of Team Science. In the first model, Hall et al. (2012b) proposed that transdisciplinary team science includes four phases: development, conceptualization, implementation, and translation: In the development phase, the primary goal is to define (more...)

In contrast, Salazar et al. (2012) presented a model that specifically focuses on enhancing a team's integrative capacity through the interplay of social, psychological, and cognitive processes (see Box 3-2 ). Hadorn and Pohl (2007) presented a model of the transdisciplinary research process that discusses elements of both research and integration processes. The three phases of the model include (1) problem identification and structuring, (2) problem analysis, and (3) bringing results to fruition. This model is specifically designed for incorporating the community perspective (i.e., via “real-world actors”) and includes strategies linked to these phases. It draws heavily on a European perspective of transdisciplinarity, science policy, and sustainability research. Reid et al. (2009) and Cash et al. (2003) also discussed models of engaging and integrating knowledge from community stakeholders for sustainability. For instance, Cash et al. (2003) identified key mechanisms for information exchange, transfer, and flow that facilitate communication, translation, and mediation across boundaries in transdisciplinary team science projects.

Existing models of team science have primarily focused on specific aspects of research and knowledge integration processes, but work has recently begun on a team science systems map project that would provide a broader, holistic understanding of the system of factors involved in the context, processes, and outcomes of team science ( Hall et al., 2014 a). Such a map would aid in identifying possible leverage points for interventions to maximize effectiveness, as well as areas where further research is needed.

Features That Create Challenges for Team Science and Team Processes

Most of the key features that create challenges for science teams and larger groups have direct impacts on team processes:

• As noted by Hall et al. (2012b) and Salazar et al. (2012) , science teams or larger groups with high diversity of membership (feature #1) face challenges particularly in the area of team process. Communication across scientific disciplines or university boundaries, for instance, may prove difficult.
• Deep knowledge integration (feature #2) is required to achieve the objectives of interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary team science projects, yet also points to team process as a central mechanism for effectiveness. Strategies and interventions to foster positive team processes (described more fully in Chapters 4 , 5 , and 6 ) are critical for effective collaboration within science teams and larger groups that have diverse membership and seek to foster deep knowledge integration.
• The research on how team process influences effectiveness described in this chapter has primarily been based on relatively small teams of 10 or less, as few researchers have attempted to conduct empirical team research on larger groups (feature #3). As noted in Chapter 1 , most science teams include 10 or fewer members, suggesting that the findings in this chapter are relevant to science teams. Although it is unclear whether the findings scale to larger groups, the committee assumes that increasing size poses a challenge to group processes and ultimately group effectiveness.
• Large science groups composed of subteams that may be misaligned with other subteams (feature #4), as well as teams or groups of any size with permeable boundaries (feature #5), may also be less cohesive than other teams or groups. When team or group membership changes to meet the changing goals of different phases of a transdisciplinary research project, leaders need to make renewed efforts to develop shared understandings of the project goals and individual roles ( Hall et al., 2012b) . Such efforts, along with other leadership strategies described in Chapter 6 , can help to address these features.
• Geographic dispersion (feature #6) limits face-to-face interaction and development of transactive memory and thereby places a toll on cognitive interaction in a team or group. Some ways to address this particular challenge are described in Chapter 7 .
• High task interdependence (feature #7) is often exaggerated in science teams or groups because of the complex demands of scientific research that may involve sharing highly sophisticated technology or carrying out tasks with experts from a different discipline. Increasing task interdependence creates increasing demand for such team processes as shared mental models (shared understanding of research goals and member roles) and transactive memory (knowledge of each team members' expertise relevant to the research goals).

The seven features create challenges through the processes in which science teams engage. The features of diversity, large size, permeable boundaries, and geographic dispersion push team or group members apart, impacting cohesion and conflict and generally challenging cognitive interaction. On the other hand, features such as the need for deep knowledge integration in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary team or groups and high task interdependence demand enhanced team processes. Thus these features demand high-quality team processes while also posing barriers that thwart them, creating a team process tension.

• SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Based on its review of the robust research on teams in contexts outside of science and the emerging research on team science, the committee concludes that team processes (such as shared understanding of goals and team member roles, team cohesion, and conflict) are related to effectiveness in science teams and larger groups, and that these processes can be influenced. The committee assumes that research-based actions and interventions developed to positively influence these processes and thereby increase effectiveness in contexts outside of science can be extended and translated to similarly increase the effectiveness of science teams and larger groups. Actions and interventions targeting team composition, team leadership, and team professional development are discussed further in the following chapters.

CONCLUSION. A strong body of research conducted over several decades has demonstrated that team processes (e.g., shared understanding of team goals and member roles, conflict) are related to team effectiveness. Actions and interventions that foster positive team processes offer the most promising route to enhance team effectiveness; they target three aspects of a team: team composition (assembling the right individuals), team professional development, and team leadership .

• Cite this Page Committee on the Science of Team Science; Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; National Research Council; Cooke NJ, Hilton ML, editors. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2015 Jul 15. 3, Overview of the Research on Team Effectiveness.
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Writing a Teamwork Essay: Importance, Examples, Topics

Never underestimate the importance of teamwork: every great project needs several people to accomplish it. The ability to work in a team is helpful in studies, in the workplace, and even in communication with friends and family. We are sure that you have had an opportunity to work in a team and noticed the benefits of collaboration.

A paper on teamwork is a great opportunity both for research and reflecting on your experience. This article will give you some writing prompts, essay topics, and samples on teamwork. Let’s start!

• Advantages and Disadvantages of Teamwork
• Teamwork Roles and Responsibilities
• The Importance of Teamwork in School
• The Importance of Teamwork at Work

📚 90 Teamwork Essay Topics

📝 3 teamwork essay examples, 💡 essay about teamwork: writing prompts.

Are you wondering what to write in a teamwork essay?

Use the prompts below. Each of them covers a specific theme that you can include in your essay. Develop one idea if you have to write a 100-word paper. If the word limit is more extensive, use several of them.

1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Teamwork

Teamwork has several advantages and disadvantages. They are essential to consider to reach maximum productivity.

Let’s take a look at the advantages that you can discuss in your essay about teamwork:

• Brainstorming in a team is a great tool that helps to produce more ideas.
• Team members altogether possess more skills than one person.
• You can learn new things from other team members.

And here are the disadvantages:

• There can be an unequal division of work which provokes conflicts.
• You need to spend time on various discussions that might go off-topic.
• Decision-making becomes a more complex process and takes more time.

2. Teamwork Roles and Responsibilities

Each team member has a position according to which they are responsible for different functions.

Here are three typical roles in a team:

• Leader . It is the person who provides the whole team with the instructions and resources needed to achieve the result.
• Active participant . These team members are good at performing the assigned tasks. They might be specialists in particular spheres or possess the general knowledge that the team needs.
• Analyzer . When a team needs to make an important decision, an analyzer is always ready to provide knowledge. They inform team participants about possible outcomes and potential pitfalls.

If you have experience with any of these roles, describe it in your paper. For example, it can be an essay on teamwork and leadership if you have been a leader in a team.

3. The Importance of Teamwork in School

Children need to develop their skills of working in a team from an early age. This develops their ability to cooperate in the future.

Let’s focus on the psychological benefits of teamwork for children:

• Socialization. Children learn how to communicate efficiently. They become active listeners and speak their minds.
• Creativity. Brainstorming, sharing ideas, and completing challenging tasks stimulate imagination and intelligence.
• Leadership. Working in a team boosts children’s self-confidence and management skills.
• Healthy competition. It helps children to succeed later in life and not to be afraid of challenges.
• Support and responsibility. Teamwork is an excellent way to learn the balance between helping others and accomplishing own tasks.

4. The Importance of Teamwork in the Workplace

Working in a team towards a mutual goal is an essential part of the corporate culture. However, it might be a challenge for many people.

Discuss the problems that might occur in a team of professionals. Offer your solutions or explain the causes.

Here is what you can describe in an essay on teamwork in the workplace:

• What are the effects of working under pressure?
• What are the ways to solve conflicts among team members?
• How to plan work and meet deadlines?
• Division of responsibilities in a team.
• The efficiency of team-building activities.
• KPIs that measure a team’s efficiency.
• Covid-19 pandemic effects on the organization of teamwork at the workplace.

And here are some teamwork essay topic examples. These titles apply to essays of any difficulty . You can use them for class 5 or 6 papers and college assignments as well.

Let’s choose the best one for you:

• Self-managed teams: Benefits and drawbacks.
• Why children need to learn how to work in a team.
• Describe your understanding of leadership in a team.
• Describe your best experience of working in a group.
• Complementary skills for management teams.
• Managing teams within an organization.
• Is teamwork or individual work more productive for you?
• Effective team and performance management on the Everest.
• How to motivate a team to achieve better results.
• The approaches to teamwork in the workplace in big multinational companies.
• Benefits of training and development for individuals and teams.
• What psychological factors determine the success of a team?
• Project manager performance and team efficiency.
• How can you find out what team role suits you best?
• Technology in distributed project management teams.
• A team culture as an aspect of cooperative learning.
• Have you ever had an unsuccessful experience working in a group?
• Sharpening the team mind and team decision making.
• How many people should be in a perfect team?
• The responsibilities of a project manager in a team.
• Drum Circles as the way to build a strong team.
• The importance of teamwork in competitive sports.
• Leadership: Important keys for an effective team leader.
• Can a team be successful if there are two natural leaders?
• Virtual and global project teams management.
• Importance of members’ personality type for team’s effectiveness.
• The art of task delegation in big teams.
• What is the role of proper communication among team members?
• How to choose the right people for your team.
• Teams and individual motivation in project management.
• Cross-functional teams: Enhancing workforce diversity.
• Can one person spoil the workflow of a whole team?
• High performance project teams and management.
• Is it better to establish professional or friendly communication within a team?
• Effective organisational development and team building.
• Describe your first experience of working in a team.
• Importance of communication, development, and learning in teams.
• What is the best example of successful teamwork?
• Does teamwork make your life easier or more complicated?
• Effectively managing virtual teams and teamwork.
• Conflict in the Human Services Coordination Team.
• Is working in a team harder for remote employees?
• Effective team leadership: Empowering others.
• Describe your dream team for one of your projects.
• How to make sure that every team member has the same workload?
• What skills have you developed while working in a team?
• Management terms: Team and group.
• Effective teams: Team learning and organizational outcomes.
• Describe working with team members who live in different time zones.
• Team teaching and curriculum delivery.
• Building a virtual team: Definition and factors of successes.
• Do deadlines stimulate teams to work better?
• The role of teamwork in the healthcare industry.
• The reasons why collaboration is essential for college students.
• Groups and teams in the workforce.
• What is the essential lesson teamwork has taught you?
• Team performance criteria and threats to productivity.
• Strategies for building effective teams.
• What are the main advantages and disadvantages of teamwork?
• How to deal with conflicts in a team?
• Is it possible for introverts to successfully work in a team?
• Teams’ development, communication, and learning.
• Describe your worst experience of working in a team.
• Sport psychology: Female volleyball team.
• What skills do you need to be a good team member?
• Teams and team working: Organizational behavior.
• The main types of teamwork in medical school.
• What are the ways to measure the productivity of team members?
• The role of collaboration in startups and small businesses.
• Groups and teams: Organizational behaviour and management.
• Describe a current project that you work on with a team.
• Creating and effectively managing a virtual team.
• How often do you work in a team?
• Importance of motivation in teamwork.
• Tell about a problem that you solved working in a team.
• The factors that define healthy leadership.
• What is your typical role in a team?
• The role of team building and interpersonal skills.
• The importance of collaboration in a family.
• Effective team development.
• Is it difficult for you to work with new people?
• The best team-building activities at work.
• How to establish friendly and productive communication in a team?
• Team management strategies and techniques.
• Does multitasking make teamwork more or less effective?
• Management: Power distance effects on team performance.
• The role of emotional intelligence in collaboration.
• The impact of leadership styles and skills on teams.
• How to choose people who will work in your team?
• Leadership in a team-based organization.

And now it’s time to read our teamwork essay examples. You can use them as a reference for long and short papers. Just pay attention to the structure.

Essay on Teamwork and Leadership

I had never thought I was a leader until my first experience working in a group. We had to develop a project on sustainability for our biology class. I had the most knowledge in this sphere, so I became the leader of the team. This experience taught me to delegate tasks, solve unexpected problems, and be an active listener. Even if you know how to do something well, you need to be able to delegate. We were sewing tote bags for shopping. Although I am good at drawing, I assigned print design to my friend. She did the task well, and I had an opportunity to focus on cloth choice and sewing. I know that it would have been so much longer if I had done everything myself. Another challenging moment of working in a team is that the number of potential issues grows with the number of people. One of our boys got sick. I had to divide his responsibilities among the other team members, so everyone got an equal part. If you work in a team, you need to be ready to listen and take notes. As a leader of the group, I was responsible for making a final decision on each thought. Great ideas might be unexpected, and you never know who can come up with the next one. It happened on so many occasions in our team. We created our logo, chose the best materials and designs only because of the ability to support and respect each other’s ideas. In conclusion, I like the role of the leader of a team as I learned many things. I became better at managing others’ responsibilities, reacting to emerging issues, and observing others’ ideas. I look forward to further teamwork to improve these and other skills.

Essay on School Teamwork

You cannot just spend all your student years and not collaborate with others. There are times when you have to work in a team. It might be a group project or just someone’s initiative to do homework together. Teamwork is essential at school as it enables students to work on more significant projects, boosts creativity, and engages in the studying process. Several people can accomplish more than one person within the same timeframe. Besides, each team member has a different spectrum of knowledge and skills. More heads allow you to have more ideas and perform more tasks as a team. That is why companies hire new people to become more successful. Brainstorming is an excellent tool for developing new ideas. One student can have a good thought, while another one can make an action plan out of it. Being able to absorb and analyze each other’s opinions makes your mind more open to new ideas. In other words, it makes you more creative. Society is a person’s natural need. It is always more interesting to study with others. Even if you don’t have much motivation to examine a particular issue, you still learn it while communicating. It was always easier for me to listen to a person than to read a book. Teamwork motivates students to discuss their visions and thoughts, which makes them more involved. School is not only about books and formulas. It is also a place where you learn how to cooperate with other people. Eventually, you see that you can achieve more, broaden your outlook, and have more motivation to study with a good team.

Essay on Teamwork in the Workplace

Every great product is an achievement of teamwork. But how do you know that a team will be successful? There is no playbook as each case is unique, but several components are necessary for effective collaboration. The main factors that define a good team in the workplace are its diversity, efficient communication, and clearly defined responsibilities. It is beneficial for a team if the members have different backgrounds and are proficient in different areas of expertise. It helps to see complex problems from various angles and choose the best solutions. People who possess different strengths choose their roles in a team according to them. Of course, all the skills need to be relevant to the goal of the team. There should be no misunderstandings or communication delays. If something is not one hundred percent clear, it is better to ask additional questions to avoid making mistakes. Working in one place makes communication faster and more accessible for all the participants. That is why regular meetings and quick responses are a must for every team. When everyone knows what they are responsible for, there are fewer conflicts. It is vital to ensure that every team member does what they are good at without interfering with others’ tasks. Teamwork also involves the individual work of each participant that requires deep focus and no distraction. The best solution is to define the members’ responsibilities at the very beginning. Teamwork is essential if you aim to create something meaningful. You need people who will work as hard as you towards a mutual goal. Each particular case requires a specific approach, but certain things are always the same. If you want to do your best as a team, make sure the people you choose have different skills, establish fast communication, and provide them with clear areas of responsibility.

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10 Tips to Help You Boost Team Performance

• 26 Mar 2020

The ability to bring out the best in yourself and others is essential to being a leader who cultivates high-performing teams. According to a study by consulting firm Deloitte , organizations have increasingly shifted from hierarchical to team-based structures to be more agile and efficient. Among those undergoing such transitions, 53 percent have reported a significant increase in performance.

In keeping with this trend, there’s a growing need for leaders and managers who can foster cross-functional collaboration within their organizations and guide colleagues through complex business challenges.

If you want to enable your employees to unleash their potential and help your organization succeed, here are 10 ways to boost your team’s performance.

Access your free e-book today.

How to Improve Team Performance

1. delegate.

To cultivate an effective team, you should know how to delegate . By entrusting team members with key projects and responsibilities, you can make them feel more engaged and valued.

When delegating, play to your employees’ strengths and ensure they have the knowledge and resources to complete their assigned tasks. Be willing to let them fail, too. Coming up short on a project or initiative could serve as a valuable learning experience that spurs continued growth and development.

2. Make Decisions Together

Inviting team members to participate in the decision-making process can lead to innovative solutions you may not have devised yourself.

According to the online course Management Essentials , one of team decision-making’s primary benefits is that it invites “constructive conflict,” in which individuals bring different viewpoints to the group and challenge preconceived notions.

By encouraging debate and considering diverse perspectives, you can stimulate more creative problem-solving , help your team make better decisions, and ensure you’re all striving toward a common goal.

Related: 8 Steps in the Decision-Making Process

3. Don’t Micromanage

One of the top mistakes new and experienced managers make is focusing too much on minute details and micromanaging employees.

Research shows micromanagement is one of the main reasons employees resign, and it can fuel:

• High turnover
• Decreased productivity

To avoid micromanaging , let go of perfectionism and empower your employees to experiment with approaches to completing tasks. By doing so, you can carve out more time to focus on larger organizational objectives and instill a deep sense of trust among your team members.

4. Communicate Effectively

Communication is paramount to team performance. According to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit , poor communication can lead to a range of negative outcomes, such as:

• A delay or failure to complete projects
• Greater stress levels

When communicating with your employees, be empathetic and actively listen to their thoughts and concerns. This approach to team communication won’t just create a more open, collaborative dynamic but sharpen your emotional intelligence skills .

Related: 8 Essential Leadership Communication Skills

5. Give and Solicit Feedback

Knowing how to deliver feedback effectively is vital when it comes to team leadership. Make it a point to regularly give informal, constructive comments to your employees—rather than waiting for annual review periods—so you can build more robust working relationships with them.

Treat informal evaluations as conversations, and avoid defaulting to blanket statements like “nice job”—your comments should be specific and actionable.

Don’t forget to ask for feedback, too. Your team members’ observations can help identify areas for growth that you can integrate into your leadership development plan .

6. Have a Purpose

Harnessing the power of purpose is a high priority for many businesses—and for good reason. According to a report by EY and the Harvard Business Review , 89 percent of executives believe a sense of shared purpose drives employee satisfaction, and 81 percent think purpose-driven firms deliver higher-quality products and services.

Imbue your team members with a sense of purpose by providing concrete examples of how their individual efforts further your organization’s mission and tie into objectives that make a positive impact on society.

7. Be Authentic

Authenticity is an immensely valuable leadership trait. A study published in the Leadership and Organization Development Journal found that employees' perception of authentic leadership is the top predictor of job satisfaction and can improve work-related attitudes and happiness.

Among authentic leaders' key characteristics is the ability to inspire faith in others. Whether overseeing an organizational change initiative or leading a critical meeting , be honest and transparent with your employees, and leverage your company’s purpose to boost their motivation and achieve alignment.

8. Pursue Clear, Attainable Goals

Setting realistic goals is crucial to your personal and professional growth. It’s also an important step in management processes, such as strategy implementation .

Research by Google shows that one of the hallmarks of a good manager is having a clear vision and strategy for their team. When setting your team’s goals, establish well-defined objectives to work toward. Then, create a roadmap of smaller, actionable tasks that must be done to achieve them.

By breaking the process down into a set of deliverables, you can help your employees feel more motivated and equipped to succeed.

9. Support Professional Development

Encouraging your employees to continue their education and bolster their skills can be a boon to your organization and drive workplace productivity. A report by LinkedIn found that 69 percent of talent development professionals leverage managers and leaders to promote learning initiatives, and 75 percent of employees would take a course suggested by their manager.

As an alternative to programs held in a traditional classroom setting, online courses —such as those offered by Harvard Business School Online —enable employees to broaden their knowledge while juggling the demands of their full-time jobs .

Focus on your own development, too. Taking a management training course can equip you with the know-how and experience to take your career to the next level.

10. Set an Example

Research by consulting firm Gallup shows managers account for 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement scores, underscoring the integral role you can play in influencing your team’s tone and culture.

When facing business challenges, be a role model by staying calm under pressure . Examine history’s most courageous leaders for strategies you can apply to navigate through hardship, such as polar explorer Ernest Shackleton , environmental activist Rachel Carson, and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

By showing courage and setting an example for your employees, you can forge resilience within yourself and among your team.

Motivating Your Team Toward Success

Strong leadership is vital to team performance. By cultivating a dynamic centered on trust, advocating for your employees, and setting an example in the workplace, you can hone the skills to manage others effectively and enable them to consistently perform and deliver.

Do you want to develop the skills to bring out the best in your team? Download our free e-book on how to become a more effective leader, and explore our online leadership and management courses . Access our flowchart to discover which course is best for you.

This post was updated on February 3, 2023. It was originally published on March 26, 2020.

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• 11 Team Effectiveness Models to...

11 Team Effectiveness Models to Build High-Performing Teams

What is a team effectiveness model?

Team effectiveness models

Grpi model of team effectiveness.

• Goals – A team must have clear objectives and direction to be effective.
• Roles – Each team member must know what they are responsible for. 
• Procedures – Processes must be in place so the team can operate successfully.
• Interpersonal relationships – It’s important that every team member develops relationships with one another and can communicate effectively and trust each other. 

The Hackman model

The Robbins and Judge model

• Context – Having adequate resources, effective leadership and structure, a climate of trust, and a performance reward system that reflects team contributions.
• Composition – The abilities and personalities of each team member, allocation of roles, the size of the team, and the personal preference of members for teamwork (i.e., do they enjoy working as part of a team?).
• Work design – Relates to freedom and autonomy, skill variety, task identity, and task significance. 
• Process – Committing to a common purpose, specific goals, self-belief, mapping out how to achieve the desired outcome, managing conflict, and accountability. 

The Katzenbach and Smith model

• Collective work products
• Performance results
• Personal growth

The T7 Model of Team Effectiveness

• Teaming skills
• Task skills
• Team leader fit
• Team support from the organization

The Salas, Dickinson, Converse, and Tannenbaum Model

• Organizational context – External support, education, and rewards.
• Team design – A defined team structure with clear goals and processes.
• Team synergy – Working together with shared energy and enthusiasm to meet a goal.
• Process effectiveness – An awareness of the knowledge, effort, skills, and strategies applied to tasks and an ability to evaluate these.
• Material resources – Resources that help team members complete tasks as efficiently as possible and to a high standard.
• Group effectiveness – How each member feels and behaves within the team and how they work together.

The Tuckman Model

• Forming – When a team first meets and gets to know each other and agrees on objectives and goals. 
• Storming – Members begin to open up, share their preferred working styles, and build trust as they figure out how to work as a team.
• Norming – Quirks are accepted and tolerated for the group’s sake, and everyone starts to understand the importance of working toward the collective goal as a team. 
• Performing – Trust is built, and everyone is motivated to work together toward shared goals.
• Adjourning – After the project is over, an assessment is performed to see how effective the team was, celebrate individual contributions, and make changes accordingly. 

The Lencioni Model

• Absence of Trust – If team members cannot be vulnerable with each other, trust may not build.
• Fear of Conflict – Avoiding conflict and pretending to get along can prevent constructive ideas. 
• Lack of Commitment – A lack of dedication from any team member will slow decision-making and delay meeting deadlines. 
• Avoidance of Accountability – Team members must hold themselves and each other accountable, even when this is uncomfortable to do. 
• Inattention to Results – If a team is not focused on collective results, they won’t reach them. 

The LaFasto and Larson Model

• Team member – The skills and characteristics each team member possesses.
• Team relationships – Those with good attitudes are easier to form good working relationships with. 
• Team problem solving – Good working relationships can improve decision-making and reduce conflict. 
• Team leadership – Every team must have a leader who encourages and inspires their team. 
• Organization environment – Organizational support and the right company culture increase a team’s chance of success.

The Google Model

• Psychological safety – Feeling able to take risks without feeling insecure or embarrassed. 
• Dependability – Being able to count on each other to deliver high-quality work on time.
• Structure & clarity – Having clear goals, roles, and plans for each member and the group as a whole. 
• Meaning of work – Working on something personally important to each team member. 
• Impact of work – The belief that the work being done matters. 

The Drexler-Sibbet Team Performance Model

• Orientation (why) – Why are we doing this work? 
• Trust Building (who) – Who are we working with, what skills do we have, and what will this journey be like?
• Goal Clarification (what) – What are the main goals, our targets, and our roles? 
• Commitment (how) – How will we work together? Is there a timeline, what’s the budget, what resources do we have to help us?
• Implementation (who what when where) – Planning out the details before jumping in.
• High performance (wow) – The team is working together towards a shared goal. They support each other and require little direction. 
• Renewal (why continue) – Will what worked previously help us succeed in the future, or do we need to regroup? 

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Teamwork College Essays

Teamwork is a crucial aspect of success in various fields, including sports, business, and academics. When it comes to writing an essay on teamwork, it requires a deep understanding of its importance and how it applies to different areas of life. It is a popular topic in college and an opportunity for students to reflect on their experiences and share their perspectives on the topic.

Sample essays on teamwork typically discuss the importance of teamwork in achieving common goals and objectives, as well as the benefits of working together. To write a compelling essay on teamwork, it is essential to showcase how it has impacted your life positively. You can start by outlining how teamwork has helped you achieve your goals or overcome obstacles. Additionally, highlight how working in a team has improved your communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills.

A great teamwork college essay example could be a personal experience where you worked collaboratively with others to achieve a common goal. It could also be an analysis of a successful team’s dynamics and how they work together to achieve success. Alternatively, an essay on teamwork could explore the challenges of working in a team and how they were overcome.

If you’re struggling to find a suitable topic for your essay, consider exploring how teamwork affects employee productivity, how to build effective teams, or the role of teamwork in sports. These topics can provide a fresh perspective on the subject and make your essay stand out.

In conclusion, teamwork is a critical aspect of achieving success in various areas of life, and writing an essay on it can be an insightful and meaningful experience. By using teamwork essay example and analysing various essay topics, you can develop a comprehensive understanding of the concept and write an excellent essay. Check out WritingBros for inspiration and guidance on writing your essay on teamwork.

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Team Effectiveness and Success Factors

Introduction

In our lives, there are various competitive forces that pressure us to increase our productivity and exhibit high levels of performance in order to succeed. As such, we often try to find innovative ways that can give us a competitive advantage against other competitors. With this realization, people often forge collaborative relations in order to accomplish particular tasks. Working in a team environment has its benefits and costs.

However, if managed properly, working in teams can help individuals achieve their personal goals, as well as the collective goals in any endeavor. In this paper, I shall reflect on the effectiveness of my team. This shall be done by analyzing various factors that enabled us to achieve our goals, and those that threatened the successful completion of the presentation project assignment.

Team Building: a Brief Overview

Morgan (2006), states that in any team, there must be observable characteristics of cooperation and coordination as members of the team try to achieve their common and quantifiable goals. As such, team effectiveness is determined by the ability of a team to develop specific and collective goals, and coordinate efforts towards achieving the set goals. These characteristics were present in my team and they played a pivotal role in building a strong and effective team.

Similarly, Tannenbaum, Beard and Salas (1992), assert that team effectiveness is profoundly influenced by the team building strategies employed to improve the operations and processes of the team. In this regard, my team improved its operations and processes by applying the problem-solving approach of team building (Tannenbaum, Beard & Salas, 1992). Through this approach, we were able to evaluate the task, identify the problem, discuss alternatives, and develop an action plan on how the identified problem would be solved (Schneider et al, 2008).

Factors that impacted my Team’s Effectiveness

Team characteristic.

According to Tannenbaum, Beard and Salas (1992), various team characteristics play a significant role towards facilitating its effectiveness. The authors mention the presence of homogeneity and cohesiveness as the main catalysts of team effectiveness (Tannenbaum, Beard & Salas, 1992). Similarly, Sashkin (2003), states that having a common mission and vision can help individuals in a team environment foster cohesiveness, thereby leading to the creation of an effective team. My team members and I set our mission and vision, and despite the challenges we faced, these aspects helped us get back on track.

Another team characteristic that influenced the effectiveness of my team was power distribution. In most cases, teams often select a leader who monitors and controls the team’s progress and activities. In my team, members suggested that we do not elect a team leader in order to facilitate evenness. As London (2002) states, a leader can help team members resolve conflicts and make decisions diplomatically.

The author further defines diplomacy as the use of one’s power and authority carefully in order to yield positive results by reaching a consensus (London, 2002). While my team’s lack of a leader meant that each member had equal power, it paved the way to conflicts of opinion and decision making. As a result, some team members were not pleased by the outcome of the presentation, because they felt underrepresented.

Work Structure

Tannenbaum, Beard and Salas (1992), assert that a team can use several ways to approach and execute a task. They state that team members “can be given individual roles or exchange roles as needed (Tannenbaum, Beard and Salas, 1992, p.123).” the authors also reveal that the communication structure is an essential element in defining a team’s work structure. In this regard, my team members and I took advantage of technological advancements in a bid to foster effective communication during the preparation stage of the assignment.

We used various forms of technology to communicate. They included Facebook, group chat, mobile phones, emails, and also face to face interactions. Through these forms of communication, the team was able to interact and communicate effectively. As a result, members were able to support each other whenever needed, and we were able to complete the assignment on time. According to Greene and Burleson (2003), a team should develop appropriate communication channels in order to avoid misunderstandings and distortion of facts. The communication channels we selected were effective and enabled us to stay in touch as often as required and kept us updated on the progress of the assignment.

Individual Characteristics

As human beings, we differ from each other in regard to skills, abilities and mental models (Tannenbaum, Beard and Salas, 1992). As such, a team with better individual task proficiency and skills is bound to perform better than that with inferior skills and abilities. This means that if a team consists of members with outstanding individual abilities, it will perform better at any given task. One of the desirable individual characteristic that made our team successful was motivation. According to Kondalkar (2002, p.245), motivation is “the process of stimulating people to action to accomplish desired goals.”

On the same note, Chapman and Hopwood (2007), state that the expectancy theory of motivation assumes that people select action plans, performance levels and occupations that meet their expectations while minimizing the chances of failure. This theory suggests that an individual is motivated by his/her expectations in a given task. My team members and I were motivated by our desire to attain high marks in the presentation. Despite the challenges that we faced, individual members performed their level best in order to achieve the set goal. As a result, we were able to complete the task on time, and submitted a high quality presentation.

Factors that threatened My Team’s Success

In any given situation, there may be factors that interfere with the processes, or hinder people from achieving their goals within the set timeframe. In my team’s case, the loss of a team member during the early stages made the team re-evaluate the tasks and thus more time was wasted. On the same note, there were members that tried to dominate the discussions and progress of the assignment in order to focus on their own interests and ideas.

This was particularly costly because more time was wasted and members could not agree on the best way forward. According to Kolin (2009), group work should not be about domination, but instead, it should focus on sharing and exchanging ideas among members. The team suffered because members became aggressive and territorial. As such, valuable time that could have been used to address the fundamental issues was wasted on petty arguments and conflict resolution.

In addition, our decision to establish a team without a leader was wrong. As mentioned earlier, a leader can facilitate the effectiveness of a team by delegating duties, resolving conflicts and scheduling events. Since we had no leader, each team member had different timetable and different schedules. This made getting together and finishing the tasks on time difficult.

Recommendations for Future Team Work

In light of the challenges we faced as a team, I believe that leadership plays a pivotal role in the management, control and organization of a team. As such, I will advocate that we select a team leader in all my future teams. This will ensure that meetings are scheduled correctly, members are updated on any changes, and conflicts and decisions are dealt with in an appropriate manner. In my opinion, if we had a leader, some of the challenges we faced during the assignment could have been avoided or minimized.

On the same note, I will advocate for the creation of a team culture based on openness, trust and understanding. Such qualities will enable members to air their views freely without fear of judgments or disappointments. During our team work, I realized that some members declined to participate fully. This was because of dominant members who made others feel inadequate. Establishing such a team culture will give members a sense of belonging, thereby encouraging them to participate more in team activities.

Team effectiveness depends on many factors as has been revealed in this reflection. Team members should ensure that they cooperate and coordinate with each other as they work towards attaining their collective goals. In addition, teams should develop appropriate communication channels in order to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings. Understanding individual characteristics may help a team understand its strengths and weaknesses. Such an understanding may be used to maximize on the team’s strengths, while addressing its weaknesses. If these recommendations are followed, teams in various fields will be able to succeed in all their endeavors regardless of the prevailing conditions.

Chapman, S., & Hopwood, G. (2007). Handbook of management accounting research. North Holland: Elsevier Science.

Greene, O., & Burleson, R. (2003). Handbook of Communication and Social Interaction Skills. New York: Routledge.

Kolin, C. (2009). Successful Writing at Work. New York: Cengage Learning.

Kondalkar, P. F. (2002). Organization effectiveness and change management. California: PHI learning Pvt. Ltd.

London, M. (2002). Leadership Development: Paths to Self-insight and Professional Growth. New York: Routledge.

Morgan, G. (2006). Images of Organization. Chicago: Sage.

Sashkin, G. (2003). Leadership that matters: the critical factors for making a difference in people’s lives and organizations’ success. London: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Schneider, M., Corey, G., & Corey, C. (2008). Groups: process and practice. New York: Cengage Learning.

Tannenbaum, S., Beard, R., & Salas, E. (1992). Team building and its influence on team effectiveness: An examination of conceptual and empirical developments. North Holland: Elsevier Science.

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Team effectiveness is how well team members work together to achieve common goals. When team effectiveness is high, team members feel more empowered about their work, which improves their engagement and satisfaction. Luckily, there are tried and true team effectiveness models you can implement on your team. In this article, learn about the four team effectiveness models—plus how you can put them into practice today.

Building a high-performing team takes effort. When you have a group of individuals with unique skills and traits, team success and cohesion will fluctuate. Team effectiveness is how well team members work together to achieve common goals. 

When team effectiveness is high, team members feel more empowered about their work—driving their engagement and satisfaction. It’s no surprise that happy team members perform better. To create a high-performing team, start by building an effective one.

What is team effectiveness?

Various thought leaders have developed team effectiveness models that leaders now use with teams worldwide. You can use one of these frameworks to guide your team toward better performance. While each model offers different strategies, their goal is universal—to help teams work better together.

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Why is team effectiveness important?

Team effectiveness is crucial for individual and group well-being. A strong group dynamic is the foundation for many other aspects of a happy team, including team morale and productivity. 

There are several benefits of team effectiveness for both team members and performance.

Effective teams:

Become more resilient to challenges that arise.

Experience positive synergy with their coworkers.

Feel more empowered in their careers.

Team members on effective teams:

Have higher energy to work harder and longer.

Are more focused , which reduces errors.

Are more productive, which produces better results.

Team effectiveness starts with the group, then works its way to the individual. As individuals feel more confident in their place on the team and in their relationships with their teammates, you’ll see that energy reflected in their work. 

4 team effectiveness models

Following a team effectiveness model makes it easier for you to lead your team toward success. Effective teams require effective leaders, and while your leadership style is important, it may not work for everyone. Incorporating a model into your leadership strategy can ensure you’re leading your team in a compelling direction.

Consider the four team effectiveness models below to see which one resonates most with your team.

1. The Lencioni model

Patrick Lencioni, author of “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” created a team effectiveness model designed around the causes of team dysfunction and conflict. This model makes it easier to point out areas in your team that need improvement. He divides these dysfunctions into five layers, which you can visualize in a pyramid structure. The bottom layer is the largest dysfunction, and the top layer—inattention to results—is the smallest. 

Lencioni’s elements of a dysfunctional team: 

Absence of trust: When team members are afraid to ask for help.

Fear of conflict: When team members don’t feel comfortable speaking up.

Lack of commitment: When team members don’t know how to follow through.

Avoidance of accountability: When team members don’t set standards or don’t understand the standards that have been set.

Inattention to results: When team members don’t focus on their performance.

Lencioni explains that these dysfunctions are what effective teams should avoid most. Effective team practice the opposite of these dysfunctions, like:

Conflict resolution

Accountability

Attention to results

If you want your team to improve, this model can help you identify areas to work on. It can also help you uphold group effectiveness once you achieve it.

Team example:

This model can help you improve on team dysfunctions or prevent them from occurring. Flip the dysfunctions in Lencioni’s model to take action. For example, the fundamental action for an effective team in Lencioni’s eyes would be to trust one another. Facilitate trusting relationships by setting up weekly Q&A sessions and normalizing the idea of asking for help. 

2. The T7 model

Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger developed the T7 Model of team effectiveness. This model focuses on the internal and external factors that make a team work.

According to this model, there are five internal factors that influence team effectiveness.

Thrust: The team has a common goal.

Trust: Team members trust one another. 

Talent: Each team member has relevant skills and experience.

Team skills: Team members work together and communicate effectively.

Task skills: Team members accomplish tasks efficiently.

And there are two external factors that influence team effectiveness.

Team leader fit: Team members trust their leader and respect their leadership style.

Team support from the company: The company supports the team and gives them the resources needed to succeed.

Use the T7 model as a rubric for assessing team strengths and weaknesses. Your team may have a few of the T’s already mastered, while others may need work. 

Turn the T7 model into a checklist and use that list as both an action plan and a way to monitor team success. For example, your action items under “Thrust” may be:

Set SMART goals for every project.

Create quarterly team OKRs , with the KRs being individual tasks.

Meet weekly to discuss progress toward project and team goals.

Creating actionable steps will bring the T7 structure to life and help your team work better together.  

3. Tuckman’s team development model

Psychologist Bruce Tuckman created the Tuckman team development model. In this model, he explains that teams develop through four stages; however, these stages of team development occur differently for every group, and it isn’t always linear. 

The goal when using this team effectiveness model is to move your team upward through each stage of development.  

Stage 1. Forming: Team members come together and aren't sure what the group dynamic will be.

Stage 2. Storming: Team members get to know one another, and conflicts may arise as differences in work style and personality come to light.

Stage 3. Norming: Team members adjust to one another. They collaborate and put their differences aside. 

Stage 4. Performing: Team members know each other well enough to respect and trust one another, which leads to better performance. 

It’s not a given that every team will reach the Performing stage. This stage requires team members to be independent and in sync.

To help your team reach the Performing stage, meet them where they are. If your team just began working together, they may need to make their way through Forming, Storming, and Norming before getting there. 

To ensure they get to the Performing level of development, look for ways to support the team. Encourage interpersonal relationships and offer conflict resolution strategies when needed.

4. Katzenbach and Smith model

Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, authors of “The Wisdom of Teams,” created a triangular framework for team effectiveness. Each point of the framework represents a fundamental team goal, while the three components between these points are how teams reach those goals.

Fundamental team goals:

Performance results

Work products

Personal growth

Three skills needed to reach team goals:

Skills: Your team needs communication, problem-solving skills, and functional work skills to create work products and reach performance goals. 

Accountability:  To reach performance goals and achieve personal growth, teams also need to be held accountable by you and each other. 

Commitment: To achieve personal growth and create work products, teams need to commit to their goals and a shared purpose. 

To use this model to improve your team dynamics, start with the key components as your guide. Does your team have skills, accountability, and commitment? Identify areas needing improvement and focus your efforts there. 

For example, your team may have skills and commitment, but their lack of accountability can hurt their personal growth and performance. Put boundaries in place and make them think of accountability as a way to respect one another.

How to implement a teamwork model

Familiarize yourself with the team effectiveness models above before introducing one to your team. As a leader, you’ll need a solid grasp of how these models work before you can put one into action.

Once you feel confident with each team model, use the steps below to identify team needs and your team’s work style. 

1. Choose a team effectiveness model

There are benefits and drawbacks to each team effectiveness model. But it’s important to stick with one as you move forward so your vision remains clear. As you adopt the model into your leadership strategy, use it to identify team needs and evaluate progress against it. When you have a clear structure of what you want to achieve, you're more likely to meet your goals.

2. Involve—and align—your team

As you work through the team effectiveness model you’ve chosen, involve team members in the improvement process. You don’t need to mention the team effectiveness model outright, but open communication in the workplace is key to building better relationships.

For example, if you choose the Lencioni model, focus on attention to results, accountability, commitment, conflict resolution, and trust. Explain these components of team effectiveness with relatable examples of what effectiveness in each area looks like. Ask team members for feedback on where they think their pain points are in these areas. Then, work together to bring the model—and its benefits—to life.

3. Emphasize collaboration

Regardless of the model you choose, collaboration is essential to your team’s development. Collaboration involves working together, even when challenges arise. The goal should be for team members to feel comfortable expressing themselves respectfully, even if or when they disagree.

Implementing a team effectiveness model is only one part of the equation. As a leader, you must actively model collaboration and set the standard for how your team should communicate.

4. Check in regularly

As you adjust team processes to fit your new teamwork model, check in on team members’ performance and well-being. Performance evaluations are a good opportunity to have these conversations.

They’ll need time to adapt to the new model, and the model needs time to work. Be patient, and don’t get discouraged if you don’t see changes in team productivity or individual performance right away. 

Make team objectives clear and accessible with Asana

Your working relationships can change the way you feel about your work. By building an effective team, team members will feel more satisfied and, as a result, be more productive. But keep in mind that the team effectiveness model you choose will take some effort to maintain. To make it easier for team members to adapt, try work management software . With these tools, team members can easily communicate and collaborate, which helps them work toward a shared purpose.

Related resources

10 tips to improve nonverbal communication

Scaling clinical trial management software with PM solutions

How to build your critical thinking skills in 7 steps (with examples)

4 ways to establish roles and responsibilities for team success

Team Work in Management Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

The fundamentals of managing organization and people

The thesis statement, power & conflict, leadership & teamwork, the importance of interpersonal relations, reference list.

While discussing the role of a working team in management activity, I would like to start from the fundamentals of management and organizational behavior. First of all, it is necessary to point out that management includes a set of activities, which are related to decision-making processes. To achieve certain aims the organization should use its resources. The basic resources the organization possesses are divided into human, financial, physical and information.

These resources increase the organization’s chances to succeed. Moreover, they help to achieve a purpose in an efficient way. Efficiency and effectiveness are the basic criteria management of the organization is to be based on. Efficiency means the organization is to work in such a way its resources couldn’t be wasted; while effectiveness means performing the right things in a proper way at a proper time.

Of course, the person who carries out the management process is also an important element of the organizational structure. Thus, a person, who makes right decisions, organizes and controls numerous aspects of the organization’s activity, is a manager. I would like to point out that a manager distributes the organization’s resources.

The basic areas management includes are marketing, finance, operations, human resources, administrations, etc. The levels the management includes are first-line managers, middle managers, and top managers.

First-line managers are responsible for operating employees. Middle management implements the instructions of the representatives of the highest level. Top managers develop numerous management strategies, and set the most important purposes. The managers are also divided according to the area they work in. Marketing managers work with the customers and clients.

The services and products the organization can offer are the primary points the managers are interested in. Financial resources are investigated by financial managers. Operations managers observe and control the ways the services and products are created. Human resource managers are mostly engaged in the employees’ training and development. Administrative managers work in functional areas.

Management process includes organizing (the primary questions are the ways the organization’s resources can be used); leading (the most important points are related to motivation strategies to influence the employees’ desire to do their best); controlling (the central issues are based on the process of controlling the organization’s activities, etc. in order to facilitate or improve the purpose attainment); and planning and decision-making (the primary point is the best way the aim can be achieved).

Planning includes the analysis of the environment, the perspectives’ investigation, developing long-term goals, and setting competitive strategies. Organizing involves identification of tasks, clarifying the responsibilities, scarce resources search, and work with skilled personnel.

The fundamental management skills are to be based on the abilities to understand the specific type of the task, to communicate with different persons, to think in the abstract or to think differently, to use analytical abilities, to resolve conflicts, to think strategically. A skilled manager should take the most appropriate decisions various situations require. To be a good manager means to see various opportunities and to determine the problems correctly.

The key managerial roles include the role of the leader, the role of the spokesperson, and the role of an innovator.

Motivation and personality are considered to be the key personal factors the managerial success depends on. On the other hand, the relations with subordinates belong to situational factor, which is also of primary importance. Appropriate actions and luck are other constituent parts of the managerial success.

Generally, management is the science, which investigates rational and logical ways to solve a problem or some contradictions. On the other hand, management is recognized to be an art, which is based on time-management skills and various organizational strategies.

There are numerous management theories, which describe the ways to run the organization. Descriptive management theories are considered to be the most appropriate and widespread. Management theories help to point out the most important aspects of the organization’s activity, and to understand what things or aspects are to be neglected. In most cases, the theories are derived from personal experience, interviews, or laboratory experimentations.

According to the department of Finance and Management Science of Washington State University (2012, p. 1): Management science represents a quantitative approach to solving problems in business. Management science practitioners apply a rich toolbox of mathematical and computer techniques to help make a wide variety of decisions such as the proper mix of products to produce, the number of tellers to employ at a bank, or the shortest travel route for a delivery truck to take.

Management is a science, which represents a set of activities to achieve certain organization’s goals. The success of management strategies depends upon numerous aspects, including the responsibilities of top managers, the distribution of the organization’s resources, etc. Team work is also one of the key points effective management is based on.

According to Susan G. Cohen and Diane E. Bailey (1997, p. 242), ‘Work Teams are the type of team most people think about when discussing teams. Work teams are continuing work units responsible for producing goods or providing services’. There are supervisors who direct such teams.

Thus, they decide what is produced, and in what way it is produced. There are also the so-called self-managing work teams. Telecommunication team is one of the examples. Quality and productivity improvement, and the costs reducing are the primary aims of self-managing work teams creating.

The effectiveness of the work team depends upon the relations between the members of the team as well as effective strategies, the manager or the supervisor is to provide the employees with. The basic points the effectiveness relies on are the workers’ attitudes, and behavioral outcomes.

‘Environmental factors, task design, group composition, organizational context, internal and external processes, and group psychological traits are the parts, which impact on the effectiveness of work teams’ (Cohen & Bailey, 1997, p. 244).

To create a strong work team, the manager should keep in mind numerous points. For instance, the manager must define the roles of the members the work team consists of. Thus, every member should perform his or her own task. For this reason, the manager is to choose skilled people, in order they could cope with various tasks. It is also rather important to know more about every member of the work team.

The manager is to be interested not only in the skills the employee possesses; there is a need to become familiar with the employee’s personality, his or special needs or expectations. Lynne Gaines and Adelaide Wilson (2004-2005, p. 1) say that the manager should ‘agree on a mission for his or her group . Getting broad participation in goal setting can help employees understand how their work contributes to the organization’s success’.

One of the most important basic strategies, the manager is to follow is to reward the team. Team relationships are extremely important. The members of the team can get together in a casual atmosphere and talk about mutual interests. Ground rules establishment is one of the key points the effectiveness of management strategies is based on.

One more important issue, all work teams are familiar with is a conflict. The obstacle is to be carefully considered, as it causes decreased productivity. According to the website Morgancc.edu (2007, p. 1), ‘Conflict arises from differences. When individuals come together in work teams their differences in terms of power, values and attitudes, and social factors all contribute to the creation of conflict’.

Generally, there are different approaches to the conflict. Thus, direct approach means a conflict is to be discussed objectively. Bargaining is a technique which main aim is to find a compromise. Enforcement of team rules is also one of the effective ways to resolve a conflict; however, it is better not to use the technique, as interpersonal relations can be spoiled.

If one of the members of the work team doesn’t want to cooperate with the rest, the enforcement can take place. It is usually applied to an individual. Retreat is another effective method, which main purpose is to avoid a conflict if the problem is not real, and one of the members should cool off. De-emphasis is another common technique, which is used to resolve some contradictions. In other words, it reminds of bargaining, but there are more ways to find a compromise.

The basic steps of team resolution process are collaboration, mediation, and team counseling. There are also the Five-P’s of Conflict Management, namely perceptions, problems, processes, processes, principles, and practices. The first category is based on persons’ negative perceptions, which cause the desire to resolve a conflict.

The problems define the complexity of the conflict. Processes are also based on resolving disputes. Principles define the priorities persons are to rely on when a conflict appears. Practices determine the most widespread ways to seek for an answer.

Another important point I want to highlight is the notion of Leadership and Team. Mitch McCrimmon (2008, p. 1) states:

Employees with leadership potential see team effectiveness as a leadership opportunity. They realize that they will achieve more by working through and with others, that they will get more done with the active support of colleagues. The organization’s future leaders take proactive steps to improve the effectiveness of their teams.

The leaders stimulate other employees to think differently. In most cases, the interpersonal relations depend upon the strategies the leaders develop. The key points of team building are interdependence, goal specification, cohesiveness, roles and norm and communication. Peter Scholters (1988, p. 1) is of the opinion that ‘People should feel a sense of worth and involvement, where their ideas are heard and their contribution is recognized’.

The team’s objectives must correspond to the abilities of the employees. Mutual respect and support are the issues the team’s operability depends on. Scholtes (1988, p. 1) affirms that ‘It is critical to realize that getting promoted at higher levels is a lot like getting elected and not many people will give their support to backstabbers or selfish colleagues’.

Cohen, S., & Bailey, D., 1997. What Makes Teams Work: Group Effectiveness Research from the Shop Floor to the Executive Suite. Web.

Gaines, L., & Wilson, A., 2004-2005. Teamwork: Tips for Managers . Web.

McCrimmon, M., 2008. Leadership and Teamwork. Web.

Morgancc, 2007. Resolving Conflict in Work Teams. Web.

Scholtes, P., 1988. Team Building. Coaching-life. Web.

Washington State University, 2012. What is Management Science? Web.

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