High performance teams are defined by their ability to work efficiently and deliver the results an organization needs. Becoming a high performance team also requires a deliberate focus on several other factors such as psychological safety and conflict management.
By Heidi Saastamoinen Lund, December 2024
When we consult the literature on teams and team development, we find many suggestions regarding the characteristics of a high performance team.
The essence, however, is agreed upon: A high performance team is one that works efficiently and achieves the goals it sets out to accomplish. Its strong performance is rooted in a team culture built on trust, effective conflict management, and clarity regarding individual and collective roles.
Leadership is also essential when creating high performance teams, as you, as a leader, must lead by example and establish the framework that allows team members to feel safe enough to share their ideas and expertise. (You can read more about this in the section on psychological safety.)
The primary objective for any team is to achieve its goals. However, teams are not solely defined by their pursuit of results—they are, above all, composed of people. Therefore, the human aspects are just as important, offering benefits both for the organization and its team members. In a high performance team, members experience greater job satisfaction, security, and motivation.
Some of the key benefits include:
Psychological safety – sometimes also called psychological security – is a concept that has gained increasing recognition among leaders in recent years. While not new, its importance is now widely acknowledged.
Psychological safety is the foundation upon which effective teamwork rests. In short, it is about how we assess the potential consequences of our behavior in a group. If we fear negative outcomes such as being ridiculed, appearing ignorant, or being excluded, we are less inclined to contribute. This means we may hesitate to share our opinions, ask questions, admit mistakes, or offer our knowledge.
The consequences of low psychological safety can be dire for a team’s performance. When we withhold our knowledge, doubts, and errors, the team loses the opportunity to learn and evolve. The overall quality of the work suffers because the collective knowledge is diminished.
As a leader, you bear a significant part of the responsibility for ensuring that your team experiences psychological safety. Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson has defined three steps you can use:
Most people tend to associate conflicts with something negative that must be avoided in professional settings – and that is often how we approach conflict management. However, when it comes to teams and team development, conflicts are necessary.
Conflicts, in the form of professional disagreements and different viewpoints, can actually lead to better outcomes. It requires, however, that team members are willing and able to present their views—and sometimes even challenge others.
The courage to engage in conflicts can be traced back to the psychological safety discussed above. When team members feel safe, they are more likely to engage in professional discussions and debate differences without fear of negative consequences, ultimately leading to the best results.
Even in a well-functioning high performance team, there is a risk that a conflict may escalate and hinder the team’s work. As a leader, your foremost task is to remove obstacles for the team, which means you also play a role in managing conflicts
It is important to remember that you may not always be the best person to resolve a conflict. In smaller, objective disagreements, you might be the one who asks the right questions, involves everyone’s opinions, and helps find a solution. However, if a conflict is more personal or value-centered, it may be wise to bring in a mediator—often an HR representative—to ensure that no one feels you are "taking sides." Such perceptions could escalate the conflict and damage your long-term relationship with your employees.
Patrick Lencioni is an American author known for his books on team development and leadership. One of his best-known works is “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” which has become a modern classic with over four million copies sold since 2002.
In the book, Lencioni describes the five dysfunctional behavior patterns that can prevent a team from working effectively and achieving its desired goals. He presents these patterns in a pyramid, where each level supports the next—meaning that all levels are necessary to ensure the team’s success.
These five dysfunctions can help both leaders and team members identify how to improve team collaboration. If you’re interested in further developing your team based on Lencioni’s theory, you can read more about The Five Behaviors—an effective team development tool that combines knowledge of the five dysfunctions with DiSC personality and team profiles.
Although a team ideally functions as a single unit, it is still composed of individuals. For these individuals to form a harmonious group with an understanding of each other and a solid foundation for collaboration, it is beneficial that they know each other’s behavioral styles.
This insight can, for example, be obtained through DiSC person profiles. DiSC focuses on four areas of behavior and describes, among other things, how team members prefer to interact with others, how they handle challenges, and more. The tool is well suited for facilitating dialogue among team members, thereby increasing understanding of both their own and others’ behavioral patterns.
Personprofilerne fra DiSC er et nyttigt værktøj i forbindelse med teamudvikling. Vil du tilføje endnu et lag, kan du også gøre brug af en teamprofil.
Forenklet sagt samler en teamprofil teamets individuelle profiler og giver en dybere indsigt i gruppens dynamik, samt hvordan de forskellige profiler påvirker hinanden. Denne viden kan du og dit team bruge til at undgå potentielle konfliktoptrapninger, til at optimere kommunikationen i teamet og i sidste ende opnå bedre resultater.
As this article shows, there is a wide range of tools available that can create and support high performance teams. Some tools have a more universal character, while others can be applied to address specific needs or challenges.
As a leader, part of your role is to identify where your team can be strengthened. Is it a lack of psychological safety that hinders collaboration? Are everyday operations disrupted by persistent minor conflicts and a negative atmosphere? Or are you looking for general tools to boost the performance of an already well-functioning team?
If you are not sure why your team is not performing as desired, general tools like DiSC and The Five Behaviors can help identify the areas that need improvement.
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