Improving team dynamics is one of the most impactful things any team leader can do. Studies have shown that people are 5X more productive when working in a high-performing team. And high performance is a significant contributor to an individual’s satisfaction with their work.

So how do leaders improve team dynamics? Here are 10 strategies you can use to optimize team dynamics in 2024.

Step #1. Measure your team dynamics

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it” may be an overused expression, but it’s absolutely true when it comes to optimizing team dynamics. 

Start by asking yourself (and your team) the following questions about the four key dimensions of team dynamics:

• How does your team communicate?
  Is it ordered (information is surfaced and shared through defined processes and forums)? Or informal (information is surfaced and shared organically)?
• How does your team process information?
  Is it relational (the source of the information matters when it is being evaluated)? Or logical (information is evaluated on its own merits without regard to source)?
• How does your team decide on a course of action?
  Is it concordant (decisions are driven by consensus among team members)? Or authoritative (decisions are driven by direction from team leadership)?
• How does your team execute towards its objectives?
  Is it deliberate (plans are thorough, closely followed, and regularly updated)? Or spontaneous (lightweight plans favor agility and adaptability)?

Your team’s answers to these questions creates a baseline for how your teammates interact with one another to accomplish common goals, and how these interactions impact the team’s overall performance.

TeamDynamics starts with an assessment to define how your team works together across all the key dimensions for how team’s collaborate to accomplish their shared goals.

Step #2. Build a shared understanding of your team dynamics

The next step is to establish a common foundation of understanding about your team dynamics. Everyone on your team should be able to articulate the definition of your team’s dynamics, how consistently your team behaves in these ways, the pros and cons of each dynamic, and how their individual preferences interact with the team’s dynamics.

The best way to create this shared understanding is with a facilitated team discussion (off-sites and regular team meetings make for great times to do this!). This ensures everyone on your team is engaged, and creates a natural forum for discussion.

Take a look at a full TeamDynamics sample report, including a team facilitation guide that you can use “out-of-the-box” to lead an engaging group discussion about your TeamDynamics.

Step #3. Set clear expectations for your team dynamics

Insights are interesting, but impact comes from turning those insights into action. Bake your team dynamics into your team’s ways of working by using them to define team culture and values, and set team norms. Then clearly communicate these expectations to the entire team to ensure everyone is on board with them: write them down and post them somewhere visible so that everyone on your team can refer to them as needed.  

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Step #4. Communicate your team dynamics externally

Your team dynamics are key not just for people on your team, but also for others who work with your team. Put your team dynamics on an internal wiki so that other teams know how to interact with yours. Include a slide about it in cross-functional project kickoffs. And build your team dynamics into the “About us” section of job descriptions.

Step #5. Build your team dynamics into your hiring and onboarding processes

Since team dynamics are the key to unlocking job performance and job satisfaction, it's important for the success of any prospective team members that they know what to expect when joining your team. Describe your team dynamics when you first talk to candidates. Include screener questions during your interviews. And share your team dynamics with any new team member during their first week on the job to give them a guide for working with the rest of the group. 

See all the ways you can use TeamDynamics to level up your team’s performance!

Step #6. Incorporate your team dynamics into your professional development plans

Whether you’re grooming the next team leader, or just helping a team member reach their full potential, how an individual interacts with the group’s dynamics is key to leveling up their performance and improving their day-to-day experience. And different people relate to different team dynamics in their own unique ways.

Set specific goals for how a team member should react to various team situations based on both the team’s norms and their individual behavioral preferences. And review progress during regular 1-on-1s and development discussions. 

Step #7. Hold each other accountable for upholding your team dynamics

Optimizing your team dynamics requires maintenance. Reference your team dynamics in regular discussions. Speak up when you recognize your team putting itself in an uncomfortable situation, and use your team dynamics to find a path through. And apply your team dynamics to create understanding and empathy when resolving conflicts among team members.

Step #8. Know when to flex your team dynamics – and be intentional about doing so

Modern teams are constantly confronted with new and different circumstances, and your team dynamics won’t be a perfect fit for every situation. Recognize when your team needs to flex outside of its comfort zone – perhaps because it's working with a group with significantly different team dynamics, or because the project at hand requires an unusual way of working. And speak up when this is the case, so your team members can be intentional about flexing their behaviors.

Step #9. Revisit your team dynamics regularly

The only constant in today’s workplace is change: new team members, shifting priorities, changing managers, evolving company stage, and so on.  As these things shift, so too will your team dynamics. Revisit them regularly to make sure that they’re still both reflective of the team’s ways of working and relevant for the broader context. Do so at least twice a year, and more frequently if you’re operating in a particularly fast-changing environment.

Step #10. Don’t try to do it all by yourself!

Improving team dynamics is hard. And, while it may be among the most important responsibilities of any team leader, it’s by no means the only priority. And, unfortunately, there haven’t been many tools you can use to help you optimize team dynamics.

That’s why we built TeamDynamics, the only personality test specifically designed to help modern teams get more done, and have more fun doing it. 

With TeamDynamics, you can:

• Survey everyone on your team to measure your team’s behaviors and preferences.
• Provide each team member with a personalized report describing both your TeamDynamics and their individual interactions with each dynamic (their “CoDynamics).
• Facilitate a group discussion with a customized team presentation that you can use to discuss your results and develop recommended actions together.

From there, the possibilities are limitless: 

• Use these results to define team culture and values and set actionable team norms.
• Manage your team better by coaching team members, turbocharging cross-team collaboration, and resolving team conflicts.
• Recruit and hire more effectively by honing your recruiting pitch, refining your interview process, and accelerating new hire onboarding.

And so much more. Make 2024 the year where you take your team to the next level!