The Secret Behind Great Teams: Busting Myths and Making Teams Work 

Created By: Hadassa Dubuche, Shea Hermann, and Zoe Patinkin
April 11, 2025

A good or bad team can make or break the employee experience. Think back to your early days of collaboration – like the classic group project in school. Often, one person did most of the work while others coasted, yet everyone received the same credit. It’s a familiar (and frustrating) dynamic that still shows up in the workplace.  

Group projects are notoriously difficult because they lack the fundamental tenets that make teams work.  They can be random or self-selected, unstructured or rigid, have defined goals and leadership or be completely devoid of clarity, norms, and structures.  

So, what does make a good team? 

Some popular narratives suggest that “masculine energy” (i.e. aggression) leads to stronger teams. In reality, research shows that these dynamics often stifle collaboration and lead to poor outcomes.  

Before we discuss how to make great teams, let’s start with some myth busting. 

MYTHS ABOUT TEAMS: 

• Aggression drives results. Social scientists who study teams found that aggressive teammates instill fear that leads to isolation. People who are averse to collaboration typically tend to make more mistakes and significantly reduce the quality of work.  

• Brilliant individuals will come together to make a brilliant team. A team of high-performing people does not always lead to success, and in fact can lead to disaster. Homogeny causes blind spots and conceals biases. 

• A team leader shoulders sole responsibility for team dynamics. While a team lead can be responsible for setting the tone and providing clarity, good teams are collaborative and take group responsibility for culture and outcomes. 

• Teams that like each other personally perform better. Here we have a chicken and egg problem — do team members perform well because they like each other, or do they like each other because they perform well? Social scientists have found that there is no correlation between teams having personal relationships and performance. High-performing teams that get along often only like each other because they perform well.  

With the myths busted, let’s get into the elements that make up a high-performing team. 

• Gender Diversity. Research has shown that gender-diverse teams often outperform homogenous ones. Diverse perspectives—especially when team members bring strong collaboration and communication skills—enhance collective intelligence and creativity. 

• Disruption. Disruption is a great thing. When we say disruption here, know that we mean asking questions, challenging accepted norms, or engaging in thoughtful discourse.  It’s not about being disrespectful or disengaged. Disruption doesn’t mean scrolling on your phone or not paying attention – it means respectfully challenging others or the status quo to introduce new narratives and produce incredible results. 

• Social Perceptiveness. Social perceptiveness is the ability to pick up on subtle cues – knowing when to speak up and when to make space for others. This quality helps foster trust, inclusion, and balanced collaboration within teams. It also highlights the importance of gender-diverse teams, as studies show women tend to score higher in social perceptiveness, which can positively influence team dynamics and outcomes. 

• Collaboration. Within team dynamics, collaboration is key to function. Research has found that in-person collaboration often leads to stronger outcomes. When studying teams that only operate over Zoom or Slack, researchers found that contributions were stifled, comments were misconstrued, and collective intelligence was often reduced. While remote tools have their place, the data suggests that the richest collaboration happens when people share space, build trust, and communicate in real time. 

• Consistency. There is a misconception that “new blood” or “fresh eyes” make a team stronger. While consistency might seem like the antithesis of diversity, teams that work together for a long time (up to five years before a fresh perspective could be a good thing) form something called transactive memory. Transactive memory is a system developed organically by teams that allows each member to hold onto specific details, that when put together, form a complete story. That’s why turnover can be so disruptive (in a bad way), and too much newness can lead to higher error rates.  

• Strong Leadership. A team lead is responsible for providing goal clarity, assigning roles and responsibilities, keeping the team on track, and enabling structure. Lacking strong organizational leadership? Invest in individual and team coaching. Having people who are appropriately prepared to lead teams will have a high return on investment. 

There is no “quick fix” or “one size fits all” way to make a team great. Ultimately, teams must be strong and cohesive, committed to a shared purpose and goals, and have the backing of their organization in order to be successful.  

Great teams don’t happen by accident. Investing in team development is one of the most effective ways to strengthen organizational performance and achieve meaningful impact. 

Orr Group’s Talent team can quickly assess the intricacies of an organization’s existing culture, its impact on talent, areas for improvement, and find helpful solutions. Contact us to learn more.

Hadassa Dubuche is a Director on the Talent team. Hadassa brings over 7 years of experience to work with our partners, advising on HR, managing and supporting learning and development, compliance, employee relations, and strategy. 

Shea Hermann is a Director on the Talent team. Shea ensures that our partners are not only equipped to realize their missions and approach their work through a DEI lens but also recruit and retain the talent to do so by fostering an environment of belonging.

Zoe Patinkin is an Associate Director on the Talent team. Zoe partners with organizations to develop and enhance HR functions, including compensation studies, hiring support, and recruitment efforts.