Why do some teams consistently outperform others? They may have the same budget, the same technology, and the same organizational goals. Yet one team consistently delivers while another struggles.
So what's the difference?
It's easy to assume the answer is talent. But more often, the biggest difference is how the team works together. And that's something organizations can measure.
A team can be made up of highly capable individuals and still struggle to perform effectively.
High-performing teams communicate clearly. They trust one another, hold each other accountable, give and receive feedback, and understand how their work contributes to the team's success.
When those behaviours are missing, productivity slows, collaboration suffers, and decisions take longer. Even talented employees can struggle when the environment around them isn't helping them perform at their best.
The challenge is that organizations often measure the results a team produces without measuring the behaviours that contribute to those results. You may know that one team is outperforming another. But do you know why?
Looking at team effectiveness through a behavioural lens can provide a very different perspective.
At Vivo Team, we measure team effectiveness using six key indicators:
Together, these indicators provide a picture of how effectively a team is working and where there may be opportunities to improve.
This helps organizations move beyond simply identifying that a team is struggling. Instead, they can identify the behaviours that may be contributing to the problem and determine where leadership development or other interventions could have the greatest impact.
One Vivo Team client wanted to understand why one of their teams wasn't performing as expected.
Using Vivo Team's people analytics, they measured the behaviours influencing team effectiveness and used that data to target specific areas for improvement.
Over the following six months, the team's effectiveness improved by 31%. Leader effectiveness improved by 37%, and the organization reclaimed more than $76,000 in lost productivity.
The biggest change wasn't the people. It was how they worked together.
That's an important distinction. When a team isn't performing as expected, the solution isn't always to hire different people, add more resources, or replace the team. Sometimes, the greatest opportunity is to improve the way the existing team communicates, collaborates, and works together.
Business results tell you what happened. Measuring the behaviours behind those results can help you understand why.
If one team consistently outperforms another, behavioural data can help leaders explore what may be different. Are expectations clear? Is feedback happening effectively? Are people holding one another accountable? Do team members have the structures and relationships they need to collaborate effectively?
These questions provide a much stronger starting point for action than simply knowing that one team is performing better than another.
And when organizations understand where the gaps are, they can make more targeted decisions about leadership development, team development, and other investments.
High-performing teams aren't created simply by bringing talented people together. They develop the behaviours, relationships, structures, and leadership practices that allow those people to perform effectively as a team.
That's why team effectiveness should be more than a subjective assessment of whether a team "seems" to be working well.
When organizations measure the behaviours that influence performance, they can stop guessing about what's holding a team back and start making better leadership decisions.
The question is:
What differentiates your highest-performing team from the rest of your organization? Are you measuring the behaviours that make the difference?
Download: The Hidden Cost of People Problems
If you want to understand the hidden business costs of turnover, disengagement, inefficiency, and other people challenges, download Vivo Team's The Hidden Cost of People Problems: A Business Leader's Guide to Measuring the ROI of Leadership.
Because when you invest in your people, the results follow.
Why do some teams consistently outperform others?
They have the same budget, they have the same technology, the same organizational goals, yet one team consistently delivers while another one struggles.
What's the difference?
I've always wondered.
I'm Renée Safrata.
It's easy to assume the answer is talent, but more often, the biggest difference is how the team actually works together.
And that's something that organizations can measure.
High performing teams aren't simply collections of high performing people.
They communicate clearly.
They trust one another.
They hold one another accountable.
They give one another feedback and receive feedback, and they understand how their work contributes to the team's success.
When those behaviors are missing, productivity slows, collaboration suffers, decisions take longer, and even talented employees struggle to perform at their best.
The challenge is that many organizations measure results without measuring the behaviors that produce those results.
One Vivo Team client wanted to understand why one of their teams wasn't performing as expected.
Using Vivo Team's people analytics, they measured the behaviors influencing team effectiveness and used the data to target specific areas for improvement.
Over 6 months, the team effectiveness improved by 31%, leader effectiveness improved by 37%, and the organization reclaimed more than $76,000 in productivity costs.
The biggest change wasn't the people, it was how the people were working together, the behaviors.
At Vivo Team, we measure team effectiveness using 6 key indicators: communication, interactive feedback, accountability, structures, emotional intelligence, and cohesion.
Together, these behaviors provide a clear picture of how effectively a team is working and where improvements will have the greatest impact.
Because when organizations understand why one team outperforms another, they can stop all the guesswork, and they can start making better leadership decisions.
Here's a question for you to consider.
What differentiates your highest performing team from the rest of the organization?
And are you measuring the behaviors that make the difference?
If you'd like to explore that question further, download our free guide, The Hidden Cost of People Problems.
It explores the hidden business costs, turnover, disengagement, and other leadership challenges and shows organizations how they can measure the impact of leadership development, because when you invest in your people, the results will follow.