Six Essential Practices for High-Performing Teams:
A Contemporary Framework
In the context of increasingly complex, interdependent, and knowledge-intensive work, high-performing teams are less the product of rigid structures and more the result of adaptive, relational, and reflexive practices. Drawing on both contemporary research (e.g., Maxwell, 2022; Heath & Sitlington, 2022) and broader literature on team effectiveness (e.g., Edmondson, 1999; Hackman, 2002), six core practices have emerged as critical enablers of high team performance. These practices are not mere traits—they are learnable, observable capabilities that teams can intentionally cultivate.
Discomfort
Uncomfortable conversations are inevitable in organizational life—around feedback, misalignment, performance, and values. What distinguishes high-performing teams is how well they navigate discomfort. This practice consists of both the team’s collective capacity to stay engaged during tension, and each individual’s personal capacity to remain present and constructive.
Why it matters: Discomfort tolerance is foundational to healthy conflict and truth-telling—both of which are critical for innovation, accountability, and cohesion (Maxwell, 2022; Heath & Sitlington, 2022; Lencioni, 2002).
Social Risk
This practice speaks to the team’s willingness to take interpersonal risks, commonly understood through the lens of psychological safety (Edmondson, 1999). Social risk can be broken into two categories:
- Disclosive risks (sharing uncertainty, mistakes, or personal context),
- Conflicting risks (disagreeing or challenging others openly).
Why it matters: Teams that manage social risk effectively can explore more ideas, engage in productive dissent, and adapt faster—hallmarks of learning and resilience.
Accountability
Accountability in high-performing teams is not about top-down enforcement, but about mutual ownership. It involves co-setting expectations and respectfully holding each other to them—whether through constructive feedback or collaborative recalibration.
Why it matters: Research shows that shared accountability leads to improved cohesion, commitment, and task performance (Hackman, 2002). It also drives clarity and trust.
Interpersonal
Strong teams are defined by the quality of their relationships. This practice includes how well teammates understand each other’s contexts, adapt their communication, and leverage diverse strengths in conversation.
Why it matters: Deep interpersonal understanding supports better collaboration, reduces friction, and enhances psychological availability—all of which improve team dynamics (Wheelan, 2005; Belbin, 2010).
Course Correct
Course correction is the ability to sense what’s not working and adapt quickly. It requires attunement to internal dynamics and the external environment, as well as the courage to act—often in real time.
Why it matters: High-performing teams adjust iteratively rather than waiting for retrospective interventions (McGrath, 1991; Gersick, 1988). Agility here is a key predictor of sustained effectiveness.
Sensemaking
In fast-changing contexts, teams must continually update their shared understanding of the world. This includes openness to new information, the willingness to change one's mind, and collective refinement of meaning.
Why it matters: Sensemaking enables strategic alignment, reduces ambiguity, and ensures team actions remain relevant and informed (Weick, 1995; Maxwell, 2022).
Conclusion
These six practices — Discomfort, Social Risk, Accountability, Interpersonal, Course Correct, and Sensemaking — form a dynamic, interconnected foundation for team excellence. They reflect a shift from mechanistic models of teamwork to a systems-informed, relationship-centered view of performance. When teams deliberately develop these capabilities, they become not just more productive, but more adaptable, resilient, and human.