Team Chemistry: On and Off the Field.

How to fan the flame if you’ve got it, work at it if you don’t, and hire for it if you can.

If you’ve been lucky enough to experience being a part of a team with great chemistry… you’ve been lucky enough. One of life’s gifts is the deep trust and commitment to each other’s success that grows when the right mix of people are together. And when you have this, your odds of winning are exponentially higher. You know it by… feeling it. Things just click, some kind of inertia is at play. The environment is energizing rather than draining, conversation and ideas flow freely and you have fun.

I’ve been a part of lots of teams with good chemistry — ones that worked hard together with shared goals, went out for drinks at the end of the day and leaned across the aisle whenever someone needed it. But good is not great. I’ve been part of two teams with great chemistry: one on the softball field when I was 13 and one in the HR wing of a multinational entertainment company.

Here are some hallmarks of ‘great’ in corporate life:

1. Communication is just easy: you often understand each other without needing to say much. Ideas flow freely and there’s an undercurrent of mutual respect even amidst disagreement
2. Trust and safety: there’s a strong sense of trust, allowing for open sharing of ideas, concerns, and feedback without fear of any kind of retribution. You feel safe to take risks and be vunerable
3. Shared goals and commitment: everyone is aligned on what they’re looking to accomplish and deeply committed to the mission. This shared vision drives motivation and dedication
4. Complementary skills: each member brings something unique to the table. The team is well versed in each other’s strengths and areas of opportunity — and there’s an appreciation for the diversity in skills and perspectives. The team leverages these differences to enhance creativity and problem solving and compensates for each other as needed
5. Enjoyment and satisfaction: working together is genuinely enjoyable. The camaraderie and sense of belonging makes mundane or challenging tasks more bearable
6. Efficiency and Productivity: the team operates efficiently, with minimal conflict or need for any kind of external intervention. Tasks are accomplished more quickly /effectively because of the synergy
7. Personal growth: teammates are inspired to push their own conceived limitations, learning from each other and developing new skills

If you’ve got it:

• Figure out why(!!). The elusive science of building balanced teams. Start to envision what future state might look like as you’ll inevitably need to bring in new talent down the line. What are your non-negotiables in terms of character and skillset?
• Nuture the hell out of it and get while the gettin’s good: continue to provide recognition and support for each individual’s strengths and contributions. Challenge yourself -to challenge them- to learn from each other in new ways or take on new things together. Dream big, as this is your crew for the journey

If you don’t:

• Start with a level set conversation and focus on gently but consistently creating a culture of psychological safety—it all starts with you so lead by example
• Spend some time in a brainstorm session about how the team feels they may work together more effectively: what’s going well and what might be missing. *Note: sometimes clarity in roles and responsibilities goes a very long way
• Actively listen and aim to demonstrate valuing everyone’s input, encouraging discussion and owning your own shortcomings and mistakes. *Provide feedback gently as you get going — it is likely fragile terrain
• Encourage risk taking, hear from them both individually and together as a team what lights their fire(s) and figure out a way to incorporate it into what they’re doing

If you want to hire for it:

• Decide what you need. What does a balanced team look like for you based on your book of work? What would an ideal team to meet objectives look like?
• Spend an adequate amount of interview time assessing fit to these standards and emotional intelligence [EI]
• Include current team members in the interview process and prioritize diversity in skills and perspectives (while balancing a search for shared traits in adaptability, openness to feedback and articulated examples of how they ‘play as a team’)

Know what you’re looking for. Make your requirements and non-negotiables iron clad. It needs to be the exception, not the rule, when someone doesn’t demonstrate helpfulness, for example. And use your intuition: yes or no.

Aim to avoid extremes.

Extreme takers can be toxic to a culture but extreme givers can be ineffective. Look for these taker flags in the interview process: signals of disrespect toward subordinates or excessive focus on personal gain.

Extreme givers might seem to have a history of continually getting passed up for promotion, potential difficulty saying no, poor work/life balance, neglect of personal goals — to the extreme — in order to support others projects or ambitions.