Most senior teams are made up of capable people. Each director knows their area, delivers their numbers and would probably get a good review on their own. Yet put them round the same table and things can stall. Decisions take longer than they should. Meetings run smoothly enough, but nobody says what they really think. The strategy means one thing in the boardroom and something slightly different in each department.
That gap between a group of strong individuals and a team that works well together is what team effectiveness is about. Here are the signs we see most often, and what tends to help.
Why good people can still make an ineffective team
When Google studied its own teams in a project known as Aristotle, the researchers found that how people worked together made far more difference than who was on the team. Of the five dynamics they identified, psychological safety came out as the most important: whether people feel able to take a risk, admit a mistake or disagree without it being held against them.
Leadership teams carry an extra pressure on top of that. Each member also runs a function, so there’s a constant pull between doing what’s right for their own area and what’s right for the organisation as a whole.
Eight signs of a team effectiveness problem
1. The real conversation happens after the meeting
If decisions get agreed in the room and then picked apart in corridors or private messages afterwards, people don’t feel safe enough to disagree openly.
2. Decisions keep getting reopened
A decision is made, then raised again a fortnight later because someone was never really on board. It slows everything down and teaches the wider organisation to wait before acting.
3. Everyone is protecting their own patch
Updates sound more like a defence of each function than a shared look at the business. Problems that sit between departments don’t get owned by anyone.
4. The same voices fill the room
Two or three people do most of the talking, and others only speak when asked. Ideas and early warnings get lost because they’re never raised.
5. Conflict is either missing or personal
Some teams avoid disagreement altogether. Others have plenty of it, but it’s about personalities rather than ideas. Neither gets you to better decisions.
6. Accountability drifts
Actions are agreed but not followed up, and nobody feels quite able to challenge a peer who hasn’t delivered.
7. People describe the strategy differently
Ask each member of the team to name the organisation’s top priorities for the year and you get noticeably different answers.
8. The wider organisation can tell
Teams further down pick up on tension at the top very quickly. Mixed messages, competing priorities and high staff turnover in particular areas are often a reflection of what’s happening in the leadership team.
What usually sits behind these problems
In our experience it rarely comes down to one difficult person, even if it can feel that way. More often trust has worn thin over time, roles at the top have become blurred, or the strategy was never fully agreed in the first place. A team may also have changed members without stopping to reset how it works. A new chief executive, a restructure or rapid growth can all leave a team running on old habits that no longer fit. We looked at a related problem in the hidden leadership gap.
What helps a leadership team work better together
Start with an honest baseline
Before changing anything, find out how the team sees itself. A short diagnostic or a culture and performance assessment gives everyone the same picture and takes the guesswork out of where to start.
Work on the issues the team is actually facing
Away days and team-building activities can be enjoyable, but the effect often fades once everyone is back at their desks. Team coaching works on the decisions, tensions and priorities the team is dealing with right now, so progress carries straight into how they run the business.
Make it safe to disagree
The team leader sets the tone here more than anyone. Asking for challenge, thanking people when they give it and owning up to their own mistakes all make it easier for others to speak up.
Give it time
Patterns that have built up over years won’t change in a single workshop. Most of the teams we work with see the clearest progress over several months, with sessions spaced out so there’s time to try things in between.
How we support leadership teams
Our flagship programme is the Starbuck Team Effectiveness Programmeâ„¢ (STEPâ„¢), built around the Starbuck Team Effectiveness Pyramid. It helps leadership teams look honestly at how they work together and agree what needs to change. It runs online or as a face to face programme, and many teams combine it with our team coaching programmes.
We work with senior teams across the UK, Europe and internationally. If any of the signs above sound familiar, book a call and we’ll talk it through.
Frequently asked questions
What is team effectiveness?
Team effectiveness describes how well a team works together to reach shared goals. It covers trust, clarity, communication, decision making and accountability as well as results.
What’s the difference between team coaching and team building?
Team building usually means one-off activities designed to help people get on. Team coaching is an ongoing process that works on how the team operates day to day, using its own work and challenges.
What is psychological safety in a team?
It’s a shared belief that it’s safe to take interpersonal risks, such as asking a question, raising a concern or admitting a mistake, without being embarrassed or punished for it. Harvard professor Amy Edmondson’s work made the term widely known, and Google’s research found it was the strongest predictor of team effectiveness among the factors it studied.
Does the whole team need to take part?
Ideally, yes. Team effectiveness is about how people work together, so it’s hard to improve if key members are missing. We usually speak to the team leader first to agree the scope.
