There are more teams, task forces, and agile groups forming today than ever. According to Microsoft data, “in 2024 workers are taking part in twice as many collaborative teams as they were five years ago”—and companies expect them to perform immediately. Yet, organizations give little attention to using one of the many models for achieving team success. “Six in ten business leaders do not believe their teams reach their potential,” according to a recent report from ThinkWise, The Impact of Team Performance.

A person doesn’t climb a mountain without proper preparation and a support team; likewise, a working team cannot operate without the right development. The CIPD writes in its May 2023 research paper, High-Performing Teams, that “Team performance is the key to success and sustainability in organizations.”

Obstacles

Why are companies neglecting performance?

Speedy starts. Organizations often set up teams quickly and without formal team building due to pressing deadlines, urgent needs to address a situation, cost-cutting measures, or a belief that team building is not essential for immediate productivity. That method overlooks the long-term benefits of a cohesive team with strong communication and collaboration skills that can contribute at higher levels.

Such impromptu teams must usually attain immediate goals without effective team formation, performance expectations, or processes. Employees in those circumstances tend to work as quickly as possible so they can return to their regular work. Worse, some workers don’t only long to leave the project, but the company altogether. Forty-one percent of workers “have left or want to leave their jobs due to poor collaboration,” according to Alludo’s 2022 State of Collaboration Survey report.

Time and resource constraints. Although employers provide teams with goals and objectives, they do not always provide the budget and support to do the job, causing those teams to flounder.

Lack of skills. Companies must invest in leadership training to ensure good leaders who can bring a team together.

Short-term outlooks. Leaders and managers have a short-term focus rather than a long-term perspective, trading a good team experience, superior results, and a positive impact for fast outputs.

Goal misalignment. Teams must be aware of organizational goals and incentives. Further, employers should avoid mis-incentives, which reward the wrong behaviors, and incentives that only reward individual performance. Develop incentives that empower workers to perform as a team.

A better way

Many team models exist, but the most recognized is Tuckman’s stages of team development: form, storm, norm, perform, and adjourn. Other models include the Lencioni model, the GRPI model, the Katzenbach and Smith model, and the T7 model. All of them help to form and develop the team to promote performance. Ensure your team gets off to a good start following each of the steps, stages, or phases of whichever model you choose.

To reach peak performance, however, organizations should consider the PEAK model.

Prepare

Why am I invited to this team? What do I need to learn or prepare? Who else is part of this project? How much time am I expected to spend? All those questions are on team members’ minds when they join a team. It is a mistake to wait until the first team meeting to get answers because it means individuals start from behind; they are unable to properly absorb the kickoff meeting; and they do not have the opportunity to prepare and bring project-specific questions to the forefront.

Talent development leaders can encourage team leads and members to mentally prepare to be part of the team by creating a checklist of what to think about and clarify before the first meeting.

For example, I’m a musician. When I agree to play at a venue, I prepare by practicing regularly, learning the event’s music style and tone.

Engage

TD can help team leaders foster engagement from the start by creating opportunities for members to connect and establish personal relationships. As a former National Advisors to Chapters Chair for the Association for Talent Development, I always began with a team retreat and made sure to continue team building throughout the year so the team would continue to grow.

As another example, when I joined the board of the Ernest Thompson Seton Institute, one of the first things we did on our retreat was to get to better know one another and ensure we were aligned around the mission of the organization.

Achieve

Achieving peak performance takes four steps.

Build psychological safety. According to Harvard Business Professor Amy Edmondson, “Team psychological safety is a shared belief held by members of a team that it’s OK to take risks, to express their ideas and concerns, to speak up with questions, and to admit mistakes—all without fear of negative consequences.” Team members won’t speak up if they believe it’s not safe to do so. Psychological safety creates an atmosphere that allows for breakthrough performance at the highest of levels.

Ensure likeability or respect with team members. For example, as a tuba player, I prepare independently before shows. But once I join an ensemble, I focus on supporting the other players to achieve the goal of having a great performance.

Facilitate team bonding via discussions and templates. Encourage communication. Stress the importance of team members providing good individual work that combines with others’ outputs to successfully reach peak performance.

Brandy Chastain, a player on the US National Women’s Soccer team that won two Olympic gold medals, said she wasn’t best friends with everyone with whom she worked, but each player knew their role and worked hard to play their position at the highest level possible.

Share vulnerability. Enable team members to take risks without fear of ridicule and share their limitations.

SEAL Team Six, the US Navy’s premier hostage rescue and counterterrorism unit, takes on the most critical missions, such as tracking down Osama bin Laden after 9/11. The team members know their roles and their teammates’ vulnerabilities so they can cover for one another, creating a psychologically safe environment.

One person’s weakness is another’s strength. TD leaders can schedule activities such as experiential learning, low and high ropes courses, or team assessments to help individuals to reveal their strengths, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities.

Such programs with an emotional investment engender a learning transfer from the activities back to the workplace.

Align purpose, goals, and incentives. When everyone knows the purpose and goal of the team, and that purpose and goal align with organizational goals, there is a higher chance of success.

Ensure that the company aligns incentives with team goals. One of the reasons teams fail is that people receive rewards (often through pay) for individual work, not for teamwork. When reward systems do not properly align with desired behaviors, they can inadvertently encourage negative actions or outcomes.

TD leaders can work with HR counterparts to ensure reward systems properly reward outputs and results.

I worked on a team that did not have alignment within the business. We spent several months working on a project without a sponsor, support, or designated organizational goals. It was a waste of time. Conversely, I’ve led service learning projects in leadership training that met both the needs of the team and company strategic goals, resulting in a win-win situation.

Knowledge management and measurement

Although it feels fantastic to be a part of a peak performing team, it can be a one-time success if you cannot track and measure the results.

US Army after-action reviews ask, “What did you learn?,” “What can you repeat in the future?,” and “How can you do better?” Provide employees with tools and templates to conduct an after-action or postmortem review.

New York Times bestselling author, executive leadership coach, and management expert Marshall Goldsmith says, “If you don’t measure it, it doesn’t matter.” Measuring team metrics such as productivity, revenue, profit and loss statements, and return on investment demonstrates success that you can share with senior leadership so they can see the value your team provides.

That attitude ensures that the team not only reaches the current peak, but also pushes team members to reach for a higher peak during the next project.

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