The Surprising Science of High-Performing Teams

Bringing out the best in people

Whether it was when you were on a middle school soccer team or your current work team, you know that a special synergy can lead to strong performance and collective success. But is it simply good luck and hard work that propel certain teams to greatness, or is something else at play?

Believe it or not, research shows that great teams don’t become great because they recruit top talent or pay top dollar. Instead, great teams emerge from shaping the habits and culture that bring out the best in each individual.

What makes a high-performing team?

“A work team is a high-performing team when the output they deliver exceeds what you’d expect from resumés and knowledge skills alone,” says David Burkus, one of the world’s leading business thinkers, a bestselling author, and a HealthTrust University Conference professional development speaker. “They tap into collective intelligence—what they put out exceeds their individual abilities.”

You can prime your team for greatness. Like a plant or any living thing, teams need certain ingredients to thrive. Burkus shares some of the most fundamental tools to build high-performing teams—and it’s not about luck:

Establish a common understanding. Learn your team members’ strengths and weaknesses, the types of tasks they want to do, don’t want to do, where they need help, and where they can help others. Ensure that team members understand their responsibilities and role within the team.
Create the “manual of me”. One of the best tools Burkus prescribes to teams is an exercise in asking four fill-in-the-blank questions: I’m at my best when____; I’m at my worst when ___; Count on me to ____; and I need ____ from the team/you. This leads to good conversations about how we work best.
Get in the habit of daily clarity. With so many tools for collaborating, it can be easy to let communications get lost in a digital shuffle. Especially for teams in a remote environment, Burkus suggests a daily scrum, huddle or a standup—face-to-face reports on what each member just completed, what’s next and what’s blocking their progress.
Build in time on the agenda for socialization. Burkus recommends creating a dedicated ‘water cooler’ conversation and ask the team questions about what’s happening in their lives so people can find commonality with one another. Commonalities create more understanding and reasons to stay in touch with and invest in each other.
Create a culture of psychological safety. When people feel safe enough in an environment where they can speak up when they disagree or share an idea, it means they can respect and trust each other.
Establish a sense of prosocial purpose: Research shows that teams need to know why they are doing what they do.

“What I have found in examining how people feel about having a sense of purpose is that it’s important for us to see that our work is in a chain of work that leads to a positive outcome,” says Burkus. Talk with your team about who is served by the work you are doing. “When people act unselfishly, they say ‘we’ instead of ‘me.’ ”

Wherever you are, the future is teamwork

Today, we are asked to work in teams more than ever before. Still, Gallup’s latest state-of-the-workplace data shows that 1 in 5 employees feel lonely. “Employee engagement remains stagnant while employee well-being is declining, especially among younger workers,” notes Burkus. But he calls out an interesting data point from a 2019 survey: The most engaged employees reported being in the office two to three days per week. While companies like Amazon are taking heat for bringing people back into the office, leaders everywhere are struggling to convince employees it’s better to interact more in person.

“The truth is that most of us would feel more engaged if we went in and got that personal connection that comes from those moments of downtime,” says Burkus. “In person, we have the ability to solve problems a little faster because we don’t always have to schedule a meeting to discuss.”

After all, we aren’t robots. “To share experiences and emotions—it’s the human condition.”