Just as vital as clear goals are for teams to perform, are quality relationships between team members. People working together well need to respect one another, trust each other and feel seen by their colleagues. Recent studies have shown that the most effective teams exhibit the following behaviors:

Who is responsible for what? If a team member doesn’t perform, what happens? How do our distinct roles play together in pursuit of our shared goal? Who holds the authority here? If the Warriors didn’t know who to look to when calling the plays, why certain skilled players sat on the bench while others got to start and how they could leverage their individual skills, collectively, this season would have looked a a lot different.

Shared Identity is arguably the most important aspect of building a team; transforming a group of individuals into a cohesive, focused team. The concept of “Shared Identity” can be divided into four subcategories: Vision/Values/Mission, strategic priorities, goals and measures of success. 

Sports are a rich source of metaphors and this year, the Warriors proved to be the epitome of what a high performing team looks like, acts like can accomplish: incredible feats, record smashing results and marketplace dominance, all the while having a great time.

by Alex “Sandy” Pentland

At MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory, we have identified the elusive group dynamics that characterize high-performing teams—those blessed with the energy, creativity, and shared commitment to far surpass other teams. These dynamics are observable, quantifiable, and measurable. And, perhaps most important, teams can be taught how to strengthen them. 

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