What makes teams perform, and what leaders can do.
A practical session on what makes teams perform at their best and what leaders can specifically do to create those conditions. Based on the research behind Google's Project Aristotle, it moves quickly from understanding to honest self-assessment.
Google's Project Aristotle is one of the most thorough pieces of research ever conducted into what makes teams effective. Having studied hundreds of teams, the researchers found that team success depends far less on who is in the team and more on the conditions those people work in together. Five conditions consistently distinguish high-performing teams: psychological safety, dependability, structure and clarity, meaning, and impact. Each condition is well-defined, observable, and within the influence of how the team is led.
The session introduces each condition clearly, then moves into a structured self-assessment. Participants examine their own team against each of the five conditions, rating where things are working and where there is room to improve. The assessment is designed to be honest rather than aspirational, grounding the conversation in what is actually happening.
The session closes with a practical discussion on what individual leaders can do to strengthen each condition. These are specific, within-reach actions that do not require organisational change. They are about how a leader shows up with their team: what they pay attention to, what they say, and what they consistently do.
You will leave with a clear picture of where your team is strong against the five conditions for high performance and where the gaps are, along with specific ideas for what you can do about them.
Open by drawing on people's real experience of a great team, introduce the five conditions from Google's Project Aristotle, have people assess their own team against them, then discuss what leaders can do to strengthen the weakest ones.
Ask people to think of the best team they have ever been part of, and in pairs take two minutes on what made it work and what the leader did that helped. Take a brief share-back. Surfacing real experience first means the research lands as a description of something people already understand.
Give a brief explainer on Google's Project Aristotle. Having studied hundreds of teams, the research found that team success depends far more on the conditions people work in than on who is in the team. Five conditions consistently distinguish high-performing teams. Psychological safety: people feel safe to take risks, ask questions, and raise difficult things without fear of embarrassment or repercussion. Dependability: people do what they say they will, and standards are clear and held consistently. Structure and clarity: goals, roles, and plans are clear, and people know what is expected and how their work fits the bigger picture. Meaning: the work itself feels meaningful to the people doing it. Impact: the team believes their work matters and makes a real difference. The key point is that these are conditions that leaders create or erode through what they consistently do and how they behave under pressure.
For individual reflection, ask people to score their team from 1 to 5 on each of the five conditions, and for any score of 3 or below to write one specific example they would point to as evidence. Then in pairs or small groups, compare scores and examples: where do you agree, where do you see things differently, and what does the conversation itself reveal?
Run a facilitated discussion, drawing practical ideas from the room and then supplementing them. For psychological safety, be the first to admit uncertainty or error, actively invite challenge, and respond well when people disagree with you. For dependability, name your own standards and hold them, and follow through on commitments consistently. For structure and clarity, over-communicate direction, make goals visible, and check understanding as well as compliance. For meaning, connect work to outcomes people care about and name the impact individually and specifically. For impact, share results and recognition consistently, and help people see how their contribution changed something. Close with a brief personal commitment: based on today's assessment, the one condition I will focus on improving is this.
Use High-Performing Teams when a leader wants to understand what actually makes a team perform and see honestly where their own team stands. Google's Project Aristotle gives five conditions to assess against, and the session ends on practical actions within a leader's control.
Using this tool with a skilled facilitator means that discussions are focused, time is used efficiently, and the group moves toward consensus, making the session productive and impactful.
