When tackling a major initiative, companies rely on diverse teams of highly educated specialists to get the job done. These teams are often convened quickly to meet an urgent need and work virtually, collaborating online.

Research into team behaviour at 15 multinational companies, however, reveals an interesting paradox: although teams that are large, virtual, diverse and made up of highly educated specialists are increasingly crucial, those same four characteristics make it hard for teams to get anything done. Members of complex teams are less likely to share knowledge freely, to learn from one another, to shift workloads flexibly, to help one another to complete jobs, meet deadlines and share resources. In other words, to collaborate. A decade or so ago, the common view was that true teams rarely had more than 20 members. Today, many complex tasks involve teams of 100 or more. However, as the size of a team increases beyond 20 members, the tendency to collaborate naturally decreases.

But, under the right conditions, large teams can achieve high levels of cooperation. The eight factors that lead to success are:

1. Investing in signature relationship practices. Executives can encourage collaborative behaviour by making highly visible investments – eg, open- floor plans to foster communication – to show their commitment to collaboration.

2. Modelling collaborative behaviour. At companies where senior executives demonstrate highly collaborative behaviour themselves, teams collaborate well.

3. Creating a “gift culture.” Mentoring and coaching, especially on an informal basis, help people to build the networks they need to work across corporate boundaries.

4. Ensuring the requisite skills. HR departments that teach employees how to build relationships, communicate well and resolve conflicts creatively can have a major impact on team collaboration.

5. Supporting a strong sense of community. When people feel a sense of community, they are more comfortable reaching out to others and sharing knowledge.

6. Assigning team leaders that are both task and relationship-oriented. Leaning more heavily on task orientation at the outset of a project and shifting toward a relationship orientation once the work is in full swing works best.

7. Building on heritage relationships. When too many team members are strangers, people may be reluctant to share knowledge. The best practice is to put at least a few people who know one another on the team.

8. Understanding role clarity and task ambiguity. Cooperation increases when the roles of individual team members are sharply defined yet the team is given latitude on how to achieve the task.

Through careful attention to the factors we’ve described companies can assemble the breadth of expertise needed to solve complex business problems without inducing the destructive behaviours that can accompany it.

This article is an extract taken from from Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams by Lynda Gratton and Tamara J Erickson published in the Harvard Business Review

Times Online is the UK media partner for Harvard Business Review’s (HBR) new Fuel your Performance initiative.

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