Organizational Wellness

What Makes a Great Team — And How HR Can Help Employees Get There

Last Updated Dec 9, 2024

Time to read: 8 minutes

As an HR leader, you want your business to run like a well-oiled machine. The right policies and tools can help you get there — but what you really need to unlock employee productivity is a great team.

Team development doesn’t just boost employee performance—it helps attract top talent, drives productivity, and supports your growth goals. Plus, it’s one of the best ways to create a work culture your employees will love.

Ready to turn your staff into a high-performing, connected team? It all starts with a solid foundation. Let’s dive into the essential factors that build great teams and how you can use them to strengthen your organization.

Key Elements of a Great Team

What do you picture when you think of an effective, productive team? While you know a great team when you see it, it can be harder to pinpoint how and why a team gels. Fortunately, there are a few key features that enable team members to work well together that you can foster in your workplace.

Clear Goals and Shared Vision

Great teamwork starts with a shared understanding of what you’re working toward. That means setting goals as a team to create a vision that everyone supports.

It helps to ensure your team’s goals are as clearly defined as possible. Vague goals—such as increasing shareholder value or achieving a wider marketing reach—look nice on paper but they aren’t easily measured. This can lead to confusion among your team members.

Objectives and key results (OKRs) are an effectivegoal-setting methodology that helps organizations create a shared vision. This method breaks goals down into objectives (“what can be done”) and key results (“how to do it"). For example, a marketing team might have the objective of reaching their target audience more effectively, so their key results might include metrics like conversion rate, click-through rate, or increase in customer retention.

Open and Effective Communication

Good communication is a cornerstone of any productive team. A lack of open communication can lead to frustration, mistrust, and even resentment between team members.

To unlock effective communication, consider these strategies:

Create channels for official communication between team members and leaders
Allow for anonymous feedback through surveys or HR reports
Host team building activities to encourage productive conversations
Encourage leaders to build authentic relationships with team members
Train leaders on the importance of active listening

Addressing challenges is also an important element of mastering workplace communication. When a complaint or conflict comes up in the workplace, it must be tackled immediately. Unresolved conflicts can drive deeper rifts between team members.

Mutual Trust and Respect

To work together effectively, your team members must trust and respect each other. You can start building a foundation of trust among your team by fostering good communication, encouraging team members to collaborate and share duties, and providing space for coworkers to get to know each other.

In addition, taking steps to reduce employee burnout with wellbeing programs and a culture of respect for work-life wellness can help everyone on your team feel valued and respected.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) policies support organizational goals in multiple ways. A diverse team means a broader range of perspectives and skill sets. It can also boost your organization’s reputation, which in turn improves hiring and retention rates. The majority of workers agree that focusing on DEIB in the workplace is a good thing, according to a Pew Research study, so inclusive policies help foster happy and thriving teams.

Keep in mind that DEIB goes beyond hiring practices. It’s equally important to make sure every member of your diverse team feels well-represented at work: Investing in diversity and inclusion certifications is a great way to ensure you’re meeting your entire team’s needs.

Strong Leadership

A great team needs a great leader. Effective team leaders possess qualities such as:

Compassion
Authenticity
Strong problem-solving skills
A willingness to change and adapt
Inclusive values

As an HR leader, these qualities can guide you toward hiring the best leaders. You can also cultivate strong leadership within your team by offering training and workshops.

The Role of HR in Building Great Teams

Great teams don’t appear overnight. It takes intention, leadership, and clear oversight to turn a group of employees into a truly cohesive team. That might seem like an overwhelming task for your HR department, but major change starts with small actions.

Here are a few areas where HR professionals can take steps to develop a stronger team.

Talent Acquisition and Selection

Your team’s dynamic starts with who you hire. Every organization has a unique culture and values. To benefit your current employees, make sure the new team members you hire align with and add to your culture.

For example, if your work culture prioritizes work-life wellness, you might not want to hire a candidate who enjoys hustle culture. If your team shares duties to accomplish goals together, prioritize candidates who thrive in collaborative environments over those who prefer to work on their own. Carefully train your hiring managers to make sure they’re assessing candidates not only for their skills but also for the qualities that make them great team players.

Onboarding and Team Integration

After hiring the right candidates, the next step is to integrate them with your current team. Smooth onboarding ensures the hires feel comfortable in their new work environment and removes the divide between old and new team members.

Here are a few strategies that can foster a sense of belonging among new hires:

Hosting regular team bonding events
Maintaining open lines of communication between new hires and team leaders
Creating welcome teams to give tours and answer questions
Encouraging new hires to sign up for wellness programs to bond with other team members

Performance Management and Development

No matter how careful your candidate selection process is, you can’t just hire your way to a better team. It’s just as important to work with your current staff on the key elements described above.

Performance reviews play a role in developing great team members. Set clear expectations and use employees’ reviews as opportunities to provide feedback. Explain to your team why great teamwork is so important and how it can help you reach your OKRs. Remember, team building is an ongoing process, and encouraging your employees to embrace new learning opportunities is key to their success—and yours.

Team Building and Collaboration

Building a great team doesn’t have to be boring. There are plenty of fun team building activities and workshops that can keep your team engaged. Consider out-of-work events like an escape room or virtual happy hour to encourage your team members to communicate and bond.

Team building can also be part of the daily routine. Group projects, casual conversations, and using tools that streamline collaboration all help strengthen relationships and create a sense of camaraderie among your team.

Tips to Overcome Common Team Challenges

Even the best teams will run into challenges from time to time. Consider these tips to solve problems as they occur.

Tip 1: Address conflicts and disagreements head-on

Consider taking a proactive approach to conflict resolution by addressing issues directly. You can create a neutral space where team members feel comfortable discussing their concerns. Or you might want to offer regular mediation sessions, either during or after work, to give employees a supportive environment for resolving conflicts and building stronger team connections.

Tip 2: Address the root cause of underperformance or disengagement

If some team members aren’t meeting teamwork expectations, don’t jump straight to corrective action. Start by identifying the root cause—perhaps they’re feeling excluded or disconnected from the group. By offering continued support and addressing the underlying issue, you can help them overcome challenges and foster a more inclusive, collaborative environment where everyone thrives.

Tip 3: Actively manage changes in team dynamics

Change is inevitable in any organization. Whether you’re onboarding new employees or inboarding to retain your current talent, be sure to actively manage those changes and prioritize team development at every stage.

For example, say you're making a promotion within a team. Take steps to make sure the process is as transparent as possible. Make sure other team members know why an employee was promoted and address any concerns of bias through conflict resolution efforts right away. Then, to keep the transition smooth, train new managers on critical skills like fostering DEI and transparent communication to help them become inclusive, rather than authoritative, leaders.

Build Better Teams with Employee Wellness Programs

A great team is the foundation of productivity and long-term growth. As an HR leader, you can support team development through strong hiring practices, goal-setting, and team-building activities.

But don’t overlook the power of a well-designed employee benefits strategy! Incorporating wellness programs into your benefits package helps boost team engagement, strengthens work-life wellness, and fosters job satisfaction. In fact, 87% of workers are more likely to stay with companies that focus on employee wellbeing.

Ready to elevate your team? Speak with a Wellhub Wellbeing Specialist today to discover how wellness benefits can transform your workplace!

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[*] Based on proprietary research comparing healthcare costs of active Wellhub users to non-users.