The 4 Dimensions

Deciding

How does your team make decisions?
"Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision." — Peter Drucker
There are countless frameworks and methodologies for making decisions, but at the end of the day, every group of people with a shared objective need to find their way to agreement about how to move forward. Deciding is fundamentally about the norms your team has for how goals get set and choices are made.
While every team has its own idiosyncrasies, its decision-making style will fall into one of two archetypes.

Authoritative

teams look to team leaders to act decisively and set the team's direction.

Characteristics of

Authoritative

teams

  • Decisions are predominantly made by team leaders or a small group of team members, with relatively little input from the broader group.
  • Team leaders provide clear direction and explicit instructions for tasks and projects, with communication generally flowing "from the top."
  • Decisions are typically made quickly (sometimes unexpectedly so), without much visibility into the decision-making process.

Where

Authoritative

teams excel

Environments where decisiveness is essential, e.g.,

  • Emergency or crisis situations where rapid, decisive action is required. The clear chain of command in an Authoritative team ensures quick implementation of necessary actions without delays caused by extensive deliberations.
  • Large corporations or organizations with many layers of hierarchy, where an Authoritative approach can help cut through the quagmire of constant debate and inter-department coordination.
  • When projects require a fast turnaround and there's no room for error or prolonged discussion, Authoritative teams can execute tasks efficiently and meet deadlines without compromise.

Concordant

teams collect input from everyone on the team and consider many different viewpoints before making a decision.

Characteristics of

Concordant

teams

  • Everyone’s opinion is sought and valued, ensuring a collective agreement is reached before moving forward. You prioritize involving all team members in the decision-making process and having every team member on board with the final decision.
  • Deliberation is the norm, and transparency about a decision-making process is key to getting things done.
  • You frequently hear about team members "socializing" their decisions, soliciting "input" from others, and looking for "alignment" before proceeding with a decision.

Where

Concordant

teams excel

Environments where team buy-in is essential to success, e.g.,

  • When developing long-term strategies that require buy-in from various stakeholders to ensure successful implementation, the inclusive and thorough approach of Concordant teams is particularly beneficial.
  • In scenarios involving complex problems that benefit from diverse viewpoints and expertise, such as multidisciplinary research projects or complex product development, Concordant teams can use their collaborative approach to arrive at better decisions.
  • When you are attempting something that is risky, iconoclastic, or has never been done, Concordant teams benefit from having everyone bought in on the vision and direction. "If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together," could be an unofficial motto.
Get a FREE preview of your TeamDynamics

When we have team meetings…

Question 1 of 12

Want to learn more about the TeamDynamics framework?

Building a great team is about more than just who is on your team. It's also about how they work together.

How does your team communicate and collaborate to get work done? Is it all about detailed documentation and rigorously defined implementations? Or maybe your team prefers informal chats and lightweight plans?

TeamDynamics captures the fundamentals of how modern teams work, from generating insights to putting plans into action. Explore the four dimensions of TeamDynamics and start your journey towards a better, more fulfilling team experience.

How well do you know your team?

We've analyzed thousands of teams across industries, functions, and geographies. Here's a few things we've found.

Understanding how your team works is the key to getting work done (and having fun while doing it). You might be surprised what you learn.

Only 1/3 of managers know their teams.
Just 36% of managers correctly identify their team's type. If you don't know how your team works, how can you manage it?
9 in 10 people are out of alignment with their team.
91% of individuals are in tension with at least one of their team's core behaviors (two-thirds are in tension with 2 or more behaviors). Learn to thrive, even where you might naturally struggle!
3 out of 5 people want to work differently.
60% of individuals would prefer that their team execute towards its objectives differently. Maybe it's time to change how the team is working?
Read our 2024 State of the Team Report!
Learn how today's teams are communicating and collaborating to get work done in our inaugural report on the state of modern teamwork.

TeamDynamics is a tool for individuals and teams who believe that teamwork should be intentional and rewarding.

We spend just as much time today with our coworkers as we do with our loved ones. We have tools to manage our relationships with partners: love languages, compatibility tests, therapy, and more.

But when it comes to relationships with our professional teams, we're flying blind. It doesn't have to be that way.

TeamDynamics is a team building tool to help the modern team get more done and have more fun while doing it. Quantify your team's behaviors. Describe them with a shared language. Improve your team's performance with tailored recommendations.

Roger D.
Startup Founder

"Rapidly scaling, our team needed structure. TeamDynamics helped us get it. Two thumbs up!"

David S.
Software Engineer

"When I switched teams, I felt like I lost my instincts for working with my colleagues: things that were easy to coordinate before seemed to take forever, and I couldn't get my points across. TeamDynamics helped me get my groove back."

Jamie F.
Product Marketing Manager

"I was asked to lead a workshop on working styles at our last offsite. I had no idea what to do. I came across TeamDynamics as I was looking for examples, and it saved me literally hours preparing for the session. Oh, and I got super positive feedback afterwards!"

Discover your team's unique personality.

Invite your team and finally uncover what makes your team tick.

Get 10% off...Get 10% off...

Do you know your team's personality? 🤔

TeamDynamics describes how your team works together and how you fit in. We'll send you a sample so you can check it out for yourself!

Success! Check your email in a few minutes.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form. Please try again.

If that still doesn't work, please Contact Us directly.