{"id":1255,"date":"2019-11-19T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T14:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-za\/2019\/11\/19\/5-attributes-successful-teams\/"},"modified":"2022-06-28T10:51:33","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T17:51:33","slug":"5-attributes-successful-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-za\/microsoft-365\/blog\/2019\/11\/19\/5-attributes-successful-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"5 attributes of successful teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

The way we work has changed. Today, winning in business requires constant innovation, and this innovation in turn requires collaboration across disciplines, geographies, and cultures. Prior to this seismic shift in the workplace, the atomic unit of productivity was the individual. Now it\u2019s the team. A high-performing team brings together talented individuals and operates as more than the sum of its parts. It draws on the strengths of each member and compensates for individual limitations. But in an increasingly distributed and fast-paced world, even the perfect team chemistry isn\u2019t enough. Today\u2019s teams also need collaboration tools that help them put that chemistry to work. They need technology that can reach across space and time and help team members feel like they\u2019re just a few feet away, even when they\u2019re worlds apart.<\/p>\n

At Microsoft, we\u2019re on a mission to help every team become a successful team. And so, we partnered with IDEO, a global design company known for its human-centered, interdisciplinary approach. Together, we researched successful workplace teams to find out what they had in common. Then we used what we learned to create The Art of Teamwork<\/em>\u2014a new digital curriculum built around the five attributes of a successful team.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not all. We\u2019re also using the findings from the research to refine Microsoft Teams, the hub for teamwork in Microsoft 365. What\u2019s clear from the data is that the future of workplace collaboration won\u2019t be defined by any one technology. Instead, successful teams need collaboration tools that combine a wide range of technologies in new and innovative ways. Teams brings together chat, meetings, calling, document collaboration, and workflow into a single app\u2014and this unique combination is catching fire.<\/p>\n

In fact, today Teams has more than 20 million daily active users. What\u2019s more, while these users start with simple text-based chat, they quickly move on to richer forms of communication and collaboration. For instance, last month Teams customers participated in more than 27 million voice or video meetings and performed over 220 million open, edit, or download actions on files stored in Teams.<\/p>\n

The five attributes<\/h3>\n

Partnering with IDEO, we researched diverse workplace teams\u2014including astronauts, chefs, television producers, and nurses\u2014to understand what high-performing collaborators have in common. With a variety of workplace teams as our subjects, we used\u00a0in-context observation, expert interviews, secondary research, and prototype activities to identify the specific dynamics that high-performing teams had in common. We found that successful teams shared five attributes:<\/p>\n

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  1. Team purpose<\/strong>\u2014Keeps teams focused, fulfilled, and aligned on achieving their objectives.<\/li>\n
  2. Collective identity<\/strong>\u2014Fosters a sense of belonging and helps team members work together as a unit.<\/li>\n
  3. Awareness and inclusion<\/strong>\u2014Enables teams to navigate interpersonal dynamics and value everyone\u2019s perspective.<\/li>\n
  4. Trust and vulnerability<\/strong>\u2014Encourages interpersonal risk-taking in teams.<\/li>\n
  5. Constructive tension<\/strong>\u2014Serves as a generative force for new ideas, driving better outcomes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To learn more about the framework, check out the video below:<\/p>\n

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