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successfully do the work (generally fewer than 10). Break teams up into sub-teams with sub-leaders if
needed.

Want to learn more? Take a deep dive…
Wharton School. (2006, June 14). Is your team too big? Too small? What’s the right number?
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Young Entrepreneurial Council. (2013, June 7). Five ways to build an effective team. Forbes.

4. Too much guesswork? A little structure goes a long way. Who does what? How is information
shared? Resources obtained? Feedback given? Crises handled? Everyone wants to know. Patterns
are often unconsciously set, then unquestionably maintained. Collaboratively design what team
expert Richard Hackman calls “an enabling structure.” That means establishing norms that will
support rather than impede the team’s work. Be explicit about what’s expected around roles, decision
making, running meetings, communication, accountability, processes—anything that will set you up
for success. Revisit and adjust things along the way to best support your collective efforts.

5. Need a clear course of action? Create a game plan. Once the mission and outcomes and goals
are established, a plan is necessary to avoid duplicate work and things falling through the cracks. Use
visuals and project management tools that clearly show interdependencies and deliverables. Surface
potential risks and discuss how you’ll handle them. Given how dynamic things are, expect plans to
change. It’s usually better to be responsive than to stick to a plan that no longer serves the team’s
purpose.

6. Too much individualism? Shift the focus from “me” to “we.” Resistance to the idea of a team is
best overcome by focusing on common goals, priorities, and challenges. Stress the benefits of
teamwork: different perspectives on old issues, creativity, an expanded network, a better outcome.
Treat each meeting as a chance to celebrate team successes. Cite examples of how people on your
team have worked together to solve problems, improve performance, or achieve results. Encourage
naturally competitive people to channel it toward the external competition instead of inside the team.
Remind people that you’re all on the same side. Promote a sense of belonging by saying: “Our
objectives,” “Our challenges,” “Our solutions,” “We did it.”

Want to learn more? Take a deep dive…

Hall, H., & Thompson, B. (2012, March 30). The secret sauce of teamwork. Harvard Business
Review Blog Network.

Hall, J. (2013, January 29). 12 Simple things a leader can do to build a phenomenal team. Forbes.

7. Want higher performance? Go for higher-impact communication. Research scientists at MIT
collected loads of data on teams outfitted with electronic sensors. They found that the most important
predictors of a team’s success were patterns of communication (more than intelligence, skill, and
personality combined). It was the manner in which teams communicated—not the content—that
made the biggest difference, such as more face-to-face exchanges; exuding energy when
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