Have you ever tried rowing a boat? If you have, chances are you made it further than we did. We barely managed 100 meters with two oars! 😅
When this young boy’s video, apparently viral, appeared on our feed, we couldn’t help notice the way these racing teams move through the water like a single organism. Every stroke perfectly timed, every movement in complete sync.
This made us think: what does it really take to build that kind of teamwork? It’s clearly more than just physical training and skills.
We believe these rowers are deeply connected to each other. They understand each other’s strengths and limits, know what motivates the team when they’re behind, and have developed ways to communicate when words don’t work. It’s deep human connection.
Which leads to an important question:
How do teams build that level of synchronisation in the workplace?
In this month’s newsletter, we look at the foundation of building such high-performing teams.
What Makes Teams Actually Work?
When researchers Avan Jassawalla and Hemant Sashittal studied this question, they compared teams at high-tech companies; some that were excelling, others that were struggling.
Teams that were struggling showed predictable patterns:
- Decision making was slow and inefficient
- Innovation suffered due to groupthink
- Information moved slowly and less transparently
- Product launches took longer and required more resources
But the key difference they found in high-performing teams was surprising…
High-performing team members could articulate each other’s strengths, fears, motivations, working styles, and unique contributions…
They knew each other as people, not just colleagues.
Why Understanding Your Team Members Changes Everything
1. It creates genuine belonging
We experienced this during a workshop with a pharmaceutical company’s HR team. During one of our activities, a heated debate erupted. We called a break, expecting to manage some tension.
Instead, when we joined the team during the break, they were sharing food and laughing together. The conflict hadn’t damaged their relationships. It had actually strengthened their understanding of each other.
This reflects what the research found: when people feel truly known and understood, they become more willing to share innovative ideas and challenge each other’s thinking.
They understand that disagreement is about improving the work, not personal conflict.
2. It allows teams to leverage the differences
Recently, during a needs analysis call, client talked about their team conflicts due to differences in members’ age, motivation, past experience and other factors.
Ironically, high-performing teams use this kind of friction as a process to refine their quality of ideas and decisions.
Because they’ve built genuine understanding, their meetings become spaces where best ideas emerge, not just the loudest voices. The marketing guru contributes consumer insights, the recent graduate offers fresh digital perspectives, and the experienced manager identifies potential implementation challenges.
Effective teams also adapt their processes for different working styles. One team leader we worked with sends pre-meeting agendas so the quieter ones (introverts) can prepare their thoughts, and follows up with 24-hour reflection windows before final decisions.
In such teams, differences become fuel for innovation rather than sources of conflict.
3. It builds resilience in the team
During an MBA program, students were assigned to visit each other’s homes to build deeper connections. The group visited their Chinese classmate’s apartment. They found it empty with no furniture, and learnt that the classmate will not be able to see his wife and child for the next 2 years.
This had a humbling effect on the group. It changed the entire group dynamic. This new awareness led to the group taking turns to support the classmate improve his English skills.
When teams truly understand each other’s challenges and motivations, they become each other’s support system. Tight deadlines, unexpected delays, or personal stress don’t isolate team members because the group provides collective support.
This is what genuine understanding and empathic concern does. It builds unshakeable resilience.
Building Your Team’s Foundation
Here are four practical approaches to develop this foundation:
1. Team reflection activity
Create regular opportunities for your team to reflect together. This could be a 15-minute session each month where everyone shares one insight about a teammate and one suggestion for improving team collaboration.
To make this more effective, we’ve developed a 26-question reflection guide with prompts like “What’s one thing you need from the team to do your best work?” and ” In what situations does our team simply not work at all?“
You can integrate this into regular team meetings or include it in team activities. The key is to make this a norm, not a one-off exercise.
Download our free 26-question team reflection sheet here
2. Team member pairing
This approach comes from Vanessa Druskat‘s work on Team Emotional Intelligence. Use random pairing to connect team members for informal conversations like coffee chats, lunch meetings, or virtual catch-ups work equally well. The value emerges in unstructured conversations where people share experiences beyond work projects.
Set the frequency based on your team size and reality. Monthly pairings work well for most teams. Just make sure everyone’s genuinely on board before starting.
3. Metaphors
Ask your team: “If our team were a sports team, what sport would we be and why?” or “If we were a band, what instruments would each person play?” These discussions reveal how team members perceive themselves and others within the group.
One client discovered their “quiet” team member saw herself as the drummer; the steady beat that kept everyone in rhythm. It completely shifted how the team valued her contributions.
4. Insights Discovery Profiles Exchange
Forgive the plug, but this is why we’re passionate about what we do.
When team members understand each other’s Insights Discovery profiles, they stop taking things personally and start appreciating different approaches. The Fiery Red who pushes for quick decisions isn’t being impatient, they’re being decisive. The Cool Blue who asks detailed questions isn’t being difficult, they’re being thorough.
Understanding these differences transforms daily frustrations into genuine appreciation for diverse working styles.
Remember those rowers moving as one through the water? That level of synchronisation doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through intentional practices that help team members truly know and understand each other.
Your team has the potential for that same seamless collaboration. The question is: are you ready to invest in building those deeper connections?
We’ve guided teams across Thailand and beyond to build this foundation through our Insights Discovery workshops.
Don’t let another quarter pass with untapped team potential.
Contact us today to start your team’s transformation journey.
Because high performance starts with human connection.
