In fact, a thriving team can improve creativity, innovation, productivity, and overall organizational success. Several reasons why teams are so important now

• Teams are required to work virtually throughout the world
• Demand is for collaboration and teamwork throughout the organization
• Success comes from using the collective knowledge and richness of diverse perspectives

The top obstacles were lack of accountability, unclear decision-making, and poor leadership. The biggest obstacle to team success was a lack of clarity.

Team leaders need specific training to lead their teams to peak performance and a system to support them as they navigate through the changes in their team members’ competence and commitment.

The research identified several key leadership behaviors that have positive impacts on team performance:

• Setting clear goals for teams
• Ensuring the team’s purpose is clear
• Aligning the team’s purpose with the organization’s vision / values
• Tracking progress on team deliverables
• Holding team members accountable for their commitments

The more often these behaviors are used by leaders, the more positive the impact on team performance.

Successful team leaders provide appropriate leadership behaviors to help their teams focus on what is important as they move from getting started to high performance.

Does the team understand what they are doing and why? Do they know how they will accomplish goals? Do they agree on how they will work together? It’s critical for teams to have clarity on their purpose,
the goal and roles of each team member, and the behavioral norms they will abide by for them to get off to a good start.

Do team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas and opinions? Can they do so without fear? Are they open to learning from the diverse perspectives of others? To move beyond issues and conflicts that arise, a team needs to learn how to communicate in a constructive manner by participating with candor, listening to the ideas of others with curiosity, and valuing the diversity of all team members so they can move forward.

Has the team begun to work together better? Have they learned to work through challenges but are still a bit tentative? People require a high level of trust, both in the team and in one another, for them to become a cohesive team. As they shift from learning to doing, they must learn to work collaboratively, take on more responsibility for holding one another accountable on team commitments, and build trust in and support for each other.

Has the team demonstrated they know how to work together as one? Are they productive and ready to take on more? Teams that have achieved a high level of performance want to maintain their stride. They appreciate a greater sense of autonomy and can take on the responsibility of shared leadership. The synergy they have developed over time must be upheld while they strive for continuous improvement.

We know how frustrating it can be when teams aren’t working together efficiently and are capable of so much more. Each team should have the opportunity to come together and feel successful.