3 Secrets of Cohesive Teams
Summary: Why do so many leaders stop one step short of true team cohesion? While things like clear roles, good communication, and low drama are important, the real magic happens when you start in the brain, not just the behaviors. Drawing from Google’s Project Aristotle, I explain why psychological safety is the missing ingredient that separates good teams from great ones. I also share three practical (and often overlooked) ways to build that safety: paying attention to unspoken agreements, creating shared rituals and habits, and valuing your team’s “Glue Person” who quietly keeps everyone connected. And yes, I make a case for the underestimated power of fun and humor, because teams that laugh together, stick together.
Cohesive Teams Start in the Brain
While team cohesion is a topic I am deeply passionate about, it is also something I typically don’t enjoy writing about. This is because the field has become so saturated in recent years. So there’s not much you can say that hasn’t been covered already. I also think this causes leaders to gloss over the importance of teamwork. Sure, they will admit there is nuance to it, but many assume they already know the core pieces. Communicate, resolve conflict well, spend time together, that sort of thing.
Yet despite this, many organizations stumble their way forward without truly cohesive teams. So what’s the problem? Are we focusing on the wrong things? Are we not committing to the right things? Or does the answer lie somewhere else?
To start, it will be helpful for us to define what cohesion truly is because this is another area we assume we know the answer to. The dictionary would define cohesion as the following:
“The act or state of sticking together tightly.”
Personally, I am not very concerned with the formal definition of a word, but it is a helpful starting point. What I am more interested in, however, is the practical definition. In other words, how do we use this word in the day-to-day?
I have observed that when many leaders say they want a cohesive team, what they really want is a high-performing team with low drama. Everybody knows their role, stays in their lane, and does not let conflict or interpersonal issues derail their progress. I want to be clear; there is nothing wrong with this. These are all evidence of a cohesive team. The problem is that in focusing on this, we are stopping one level short of true cohesiveness. We are valuing outcomes rather than the behaviors that produce them; the fruit rather than the root.
If a leader is stuck in this mindset, they will create a culture of compliance and behavior modification. Thus, team members will become overly concerned with appeasing their leader and avoiding conflict. A team with this culture may produce satisfactory levels of production, but will get stuck in dysfunctional cycles of behavior because they have failed to cultivate trust. This is what separates truly cohesive teams. It starts in the brain, not in the behaviors.
The Missing Ingredient for Cohesive Teams
One recent study that has really been bringing this concept to light is Google’s Project Aristotle. Named after the Greek philosopher’s phrase: “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” the study sought to answer the question: What truly characterizes high-performing teams? The study, spanning 2 years, analyzed 180 different teams at Google and measured 250 team attributes. Upon completion, there were 4 key attributes they found that set their most high-performing teams apart:
Dependability – Team members reliably complete work on time in accordance with Google’s standard of quality.
Structure & Clarity – Team members have clear roles, plans, and goals.
Meaning – Work is personally important to team members.
Impact - Team members believe their work matters and creates meaningful change.
While these 4 factors all contributed to high performance, the researchers realized there was something missing. This was because teams that scored high in these 4 areas still showed large differences in performance. Upon revisiting the data, they found there was 1 very important component missing… psychological safety. They defined this as team members feeling safe to take risks and be vulnerable with each other. Teams that had high psychological safety drastically outperformed those that didn’t, even if they scored lower on the other 4 factors.
I share this to drive home the point that team cohesion starts in the brain, not in the behaviors. This is something that many leaders know, but really underestimate. Thus, I find that many “secrets” of team performance lie in the area of psychological safety and trust. So with that said, let’s take a look at some strategies for team cohesion that I don’t hear talked about very often.
Secrets of High-Performing Teams
1. Unspoken Agreements Matter More than Policies
A mentor once introduced this concept to me as “Emotional Fairness vs. Legal Fairness.” See, when initiating change or resolving conflicts in the workplace, we often default to transactional policies and procedures. And while there is a place for this, we need to understand that if we truly want to build trust and rapport, we need to address the underlying expectations people have. Whether it be our body language, habits, or choice of words, human beings create many unspoken agreements with each other over time. So, despite what time our team scheduled a meeting for, if we always go over time and no one says anything about it, then someone may be offended one day when we cut them off in the spirit of keeping to the scheduled time. The policy is what the calendar says; the unspoken agreement is what our actions over time have said. If we don’t address these expectations, it can harm psychological safety because people feel they are being treated unfairly or that the rules can change at any time.
2. Create Shared Rituals and Habits
Now, because unspoken agreements and expectations are so important, it can be very valuable to program them in an intentional way by creating shared rituals and habits. A great book that talks about this is The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle. A company I worked at did this really well with a ritual we called “Celebrating the Wins.” Every team meeting on Fridays, we would start with a highlight from our week, personal or professional. Furthermore, we clarified that this did not have to be something transactional like closing a sale. This would immediately set the tone for every meeting and have the whole team thinking on a similar wavelength: positivity and possibility. Furthermore, it was something we shared, which is a powerful boost for psychological safety.
This can also apply to things like how you handle conflict as a team, how you brainstorm during meetings, communication etiquette, etc. The key is that once you set it, the team needs to commit to following it. This starts with the leaders setting the tone.
3. Find your Glue Guy
I have observed that most teams have a Glue Guy or Girl. That one person who is a great team player and everyone feels comfortable talking to. They usually find themselves as the “Office Counselor” because everyone goes to them to vent about their frustrations. That is why they also usually have the most accurate pulse on how the team is doing, even better than the leader. Unfortunately, this patient and caring nature can often mean that they are not the highest performer. This is where I find leaders tend to undervalue these kinds of people because they are too accommodating or work too slowly. Some organizations won’t even hire personalities like this, then wonder why they have so many issues with conflict. This is where I encourage leaders to adopt a more holistic view of high performance. As we have already covered, psychological safety is crucial for a high-performing team. So, individuals who are skilled at cultivating this trust and safety are so valuable. It doesn’t mean we ignore sub-par performance, but it may mean we include more relational elements in how we measure performance. And that we are more patient on the transactional side for people who have demonstrated high relational skills.
BONUS: The Role of Fun and Humor
Finally, don’t sleep on the value of fun and humor. It may seem simple, but when teams can laugh together and enjoy each other’s company, it releases several “feel-good” chemicals in the brain responsible for human bonding. Even if you, as a leader, are not naturally the fun and playful type, you can still organize activities where these kinds of interactions are more likely to happen. This article can give you some more ideas to design that kind of environment.
A Cohesive Solution
So there are a few strategies for building tight-knit teams that you may not have heard before. Remember, it starts in the brain, not the behaviors. How can you, as a leader, create greater psychological safety? If you could use some help doing that, I offer a number of different services to help leaders become more effective in their craft, and teams become greater than the sum of their parts. I have included links to a couple of different workshops I offer below on the subject:
Go ahead and book a Free Discovery Call with me to learn more and get the process started!
