Great teams are intentionally designed, not accidentally formed. Effective team design, not chance, shapes high performing teams.

When I was coaching Michael (not his real name), a senior leader in e-commerce, he’d just stepped into a new role—leading a freshly formed team tasked with driving an AI-led transformation. The opportunity was huge. So was the pressure.

His mission? Build a high-performing team from the ground up to future-proof the organisation. He had full autonomy to hire six direct reports and was leaning toward handpicking top-tier subject matter experts.

That’s where I paused him.

“Let’s take a step back,” I said. “Before we fill seats, let’s design the team.”

I introduced Michael to the concept of team design—a strategic approach that looks beyond individual brilliance to the collective. It’s not just about expertise; it’s about building complementary strengths, shared leadership, and the psychological safety needed to lead real change.

This is where transformation starts. Not with the who, but with the how.

Why is TEAM DESIGN so important?

Many organisations still believe that assembling a group of talented individuals automatically creates a high-performing team. But let’s be honest—that rarely works. You can gather the smartest people in a room and still end up with chaos. Richard Hackman, a pioneer in team research, said it best: “Great teams don’t happen by accident or by talent alone.”

Hackman’s key insight is that success isn’t just about who’s on the team—it’s about the conditions that enable them to thrive together. Imagine a group of star athletes without practice, a shared game plan, or clear roles. Talent alone won’t cut it. This is what’s playing out in workplaces every day—teams are formed, but no one designs how they’ll actually function.

One of today’s big workplace challenges is that leaders focus on task execution rather than fostering teamwork. That’s a huge missed opportunity. Hackman urges leaders to flip the script: don’t just rely on individual talent—build a team environment with clear purpose, strong collaboration, and healthy norms.

The opportunity is huge. Teams that intentionally shape how they work—clarifying purpose, setting expectations, and building a culture of collaboration—are not only more productive, but also more resilient, engaged, and innovative. When you focus on how your team operates, not just who is on it, you unlock long-term success.

The proof is in the pudding

Hackman’s findings suggest that team design is nearly 40 times more impactful on performance than coaching interventions. Supporting Hackman’s perspective, Gallup’s research underscores the importance of the “how” in team dynamics. Gallup’s studies reveal that 70% of the variance in team engagement is directly attributed to the manager’s actions and behaviours. In a nutshell: that the way a team operates—its processes, interactions, and leadership approach—is crucial for fostering engagement and achieving high performance.

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.”

– Michael Jordan, Legendary Basketball Player

Practical Steps to design your Team:

To build a high-performing team, it’s crucial to address the Who, Why, What, and especially the How. Here’s your practical action guide:

WHO (People)

Select for Team Fit, Not Just Talent.

Be deliberate about who joins your team. Don’t just pick the “best” individuals on paper; look at how they’ll work together. Aim for complementary skills, diverse perspectives, and a good blend of personalities and values that align with your team’s purpose.

WHY (Purpose)

Clarify the Team’s Purpose.

Make sure every member can clearly articulate why the team exists and what it aims to achieve. This clarity becomes your North Star, guiding team decision-making, priorities, and actions. You can workshop this with your team at a team offsite.

WHAT (Roles)

Define Clear Roles and Strategies

Ensure each team member knows exactly what’s expected of them, including their responsibilities, accountability, and how their role supports the team’s larger purpose. Ambiguity here will erode performance fast.

HOW (Ways of Working) – 5 Tips

Set Clear Norms

Explicitly agree on how the team will work together. This includes how decisions are made, how conflicts are resolved, and how communication flows. Clearly stated norms create a safe and predictable environment that encourages productive collaboration.

Build Psychological Safety

Create an environment where people feel safe to voice ideas, challenge opinions, and take risks without fear of judgment. Psychological safety, famously championed by Amy Edmondson at Harvard, ensures everyone is open, honest, and willing to innovate and learn.

Balance Skills & Roles

Intentionally assign roles based not just on job titles or seniority but on complementary strengths and working styles. Think of it as casting the right actor for the right role in your team’s play.

Effective Meetings

Review your team meetings and make them more engaging, more relevant and more valuable. Everyone has too many meetings that are too long, with the wrong people attending and a lack of an ever-changing agenda. To be honest, this is where most of my work as a team coach starts.

Enable Regular Feedback

Create regular, structured opportunities for feedback. High-performing teams don’t wait for annual reviews—they check in constantly, adjusting their approach as they go. Keep it constructive, consistent, and actionable.

Coach Instead of Control

Shift from managing tasks to coaching performance. Leaders who coach rather than direct, empower their teams to think independently, take initiative, and feel ownership over their outcomes.

Regularly Reflect and Adapt

Consistently schedule sessions for reflection and improvement. Hackman found the highest-performing teams continuously examine their processes, openly discuss what’s working (and what’s not), and adjust accordingly. Team coaching is a great intervention to do this well.

Michael applied these strategies and instead of hiring highly technical people (who were probably very much like him), he diversified his team consisting of 3 technical AI experts, a change management guru, a communication and marketing specialist and someone who understood the products inside and out and was an operational wiz. The team was also diverse in working styles and thinking approaches which helped the team to stay ahead of the game and challenged each other constantly.

No matter where in the cycle of building your team you are, either creating a team from scratch, replacing team members or up- or downsizing your team, always consider the WHO, WHY, WHAT or, most importantly the HOW!

If you want to chat with me about how we support teams and organisations with team design, get in touch: jessica@intactteams.com