The Four Behaviours that Predict Team Performance

The Real Challenge Organizations often rely on personality, chemistry, or “hiring the right people” as the foundation for team success. Leaders assume the team will figure it out if the individuals are strong enough. The research says otherwise. In fact, McKinsey found that three out of four cross-functional teams underperform on key metrics (McKinsey, Go, Teams, 2024). It isn’t because people lack skill or commitment, it’s because the team lacks the behaviours that make collaboration predictable and safe.

The Consequence When teams operate without shared behavioural norms, they inevitably drift into siloed thinking, inconsistent communication, and avoidable conflict. Productivity drops. Meetings drag on. Innovation stalls. And psychological safety, which is one of the strongest predictors of performance, then erodes. The result is a team that works hard but struggles to work together. McKinsey’s research shows that four behavioural drivers have the biggest impact on team outcomes: 

• trust

• communication

• decision making

• innovative thinking

• 
  

Teams that score above average on trust alone are 3.3 times more efficient and 5.1 times more likely to deliver results (McKinsey, Go, Teams, 2024). Without these conditions, even talented people hit friction points that limit their ability to perform.

A New Way to See It Great teams are built, not born. The difference between an average team and a high-performing team lies in how well they cultivate the behaviours that allow people to collaborate safely and effectively. Trust fuels vulnerability. Communication creates clarity. Decision making builds momentum. Innovative thinking invites cross-generational problem solving. These behaviours become the operating system beneath the technical skills. 

The challenge however is not lack of knowledge, it is lack of integration. Every leader can give you the right answer on the trivia question, but the test is whether or not, in a moment of stress does vulnerability show up or do we armour up and protect ourselves.  Creating training systems that impact behaviour rather than provide more information requires a different approach. 

To look at this in a new way, we need to shift our mindset from consuming information to developing skills, from expecting to coaching, and from task first to relationship first.

A Practical First Step Choose one micro behaviour to strengthen over the next 30 days. A powerful place to start is to strengthen our ability to be vulnerable by this simple practice.

When you and a team member are discussing a solution or decision to take action on.

Instead of saying good job, and moving on.

Ask one final question; Is there anything from your perspective that I am missing that could impact this project as we have discussed it?

A simple habit, practiced daily, transforms behaviour and improves performance across the team.