The Top Five Factors in Team Performance

Google created Project Aristotle to answer the question “What makes a team effective at Google?”. Google’s People Analytics department (don’t you wish YOU had a People Analytics department?) conducted extensive research across 180 teams, ran double-blind interviews, combined subjective and objectives measures, and ran all kinds of sophisticated statistical analysis.

The top five factors in team performance at Google are:

1. Psychological safety

Team members feel safe to take risks and be vulnerable with each other. (See our blog post on psychological safety.)

2. Dependability

Team members get work done on time and with high quality.

3. Structure & Clarity

Clear roles, plans and goals.

4. Meaning

Work is personally important to team members.

5. Impact

Team members believe their work matters and creates change.

Image by Rich Remomeron under Creative Commons license.

Leadership is the Key

Leaders — from front-line managers to C-level executives — create the system and cultivate the conditions for these team characteristics to thrive, or to wither away. Leaders are like gardeners. They cannot force their plants to grow, but they can till and fertilize the soil, provide the right amount of sunlight and water, and pull out the weeds that hinder productivity.

What will you do this week to cultivate your teams’ garden?

In the coming weeks, we’ll be writing about each of the five success factors. Stay tuned!