Team effectiveness includes process variables like team goals, team identity, and team cohesion. Why are processes important to team effectiveness? Teams should create outputs greater than the sum of their inputs. Effective teams begin by analyzing the team’s mission, developing goals to achieve that mission, and creating strategies for achieving the goals. Members of successful teams put a tremendous amount of time and effort into discussing, shaping, and sharing a purpose that belongs to them collectively and individually.

Effective teams show reflexivity, meaning they reflect on and adjust their purpose when necessary. A team must have a good plan, but team members need to be willing and able to adapt when conditions call for it. Successful teams translate their common purpose into specific, measurable, and realistic performance goals. Specific goals facilitate clear communication. They help teams maintain their focus on getting results. Effective teams have confidence in themselves; they believe they can succeed. We call this team efficacy. Teams that have been successful raise their beliefs about future success, which in turn motivates them to work harder.

Managers should pay special attention to fostering team identity in virtual teams. Team identity may be lower in virtual teams, which can lead to lower effort on the part of virtual team members. The term team cohesion describes a situation in which members are emotionally attached to one another and motivated toward the team because of their attachment. Team cohesion is a useful tool to predict team outcomes.