5 Steps to Building Brilliant Teams. No 5. Results
“If a team is not focused on results, it will ultimately stagnate and fail to grow.”
Teamwork is about getting things done.
It’s about making progress on the things that matter most — together.
Teams exist to deliver results you can’t achieve alone. To solve problems. To drive growth. To create something better than the sum of individual efforts.
Results mean moving forward with purpose, working towards shared goals — not just being busy or just doing our own thing in isolation. Results give focus, energy, and meaning to all the work that happens day-to-day.
That’s why great teams align around shared results — and make them visible, measurable, and worth celebrating.
This is the final blog in my series exploring how to build a brilliant team — inspired by Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team model. So far, we’ve explored Trust, Healthy Conflict, Commitment, and Accountability. Today, we’re focusing on Results — and why shared success matters more than anything.
“The ultimate dysfunction of a team is the tendency of members to care about something other than the collective goals of the group.”
Patrick Lencioni
After all the conversations, connection, and commitment — what’s the point?.
Results are what all of this teamwork is building towards. But in many teams, results aren’t as visible — or as shared — as they need to be. People stay busy with their own tasks. Departments chase their own targets. Success goes unnoticed — or is only recognised from the top down. And when results aren’t visible, celebrated, or shared — teams lose momentum.
When teams trust each other, engage in healthy conflict, commit to decisions, and hold each other accountable, there’s a good chance they’ll succeed.
But the final step is to make sure everyone is aligned around shared goals — and that success is visible to everyone.
What Happens When Teams Don’t Focus on Results?
When collective results aren’t clear or visible:
People retreat to individual priorities
Teams lose focus and motivation
Progress becomes hard to measure
Success often goes unacknowledged
This isn’t about micromanagement. It’s about shared momentum.
How to Create a Team Focus on Results
Here’s how high-performing teams stay focused on what matters most:
Set Shared Goals — Not Just Individual Ones
Shared KPIs or team objectives create alignment and clarity.
Ask: “What does success look like for our team?”
”How will we measure progress as a team?”Make Progress Visible — Create a Scoreboard
A Scoreboard is key to visibility.
It’s a simple, visual way to track goals and keep keeps them front of mind, it creates focus, motivation and accountability. It also helps you celebrate the milestones and successes.Celebrate Wins — Big and Small
Celebrating together builds connection, pride, and momentum.
Success often goes unrecognised — or gets lost in the rush to the next thing. Celebrating results isn’t about trophies or big awards (though those can be great too). It’s about noticing. Great teams make a habit of recognising:
- Progress
- Effort
- Lessons learned
- Collaboration
- Values-driven behaviour
Ask your team:
”What achievements — big or small — could we celebrate?”
”How do we want to celebrate together when we hit a goal?”
Final Thought: Results Are a Team Effort
The best teams succeed together. They stay focused on what matters most. They hold each other to high standards. They notice progress and they celebrate success.
When results are visible, shared, and celebrated — teams move faster, feel stronger, and stay connected.
Reflection Exercise: Create Your Team Scoreboard
This is a powerful conversation to have as a team — either in a workshop, team meeting, or strategy session. It’s not about over-complicating things — it’s about getting really clear on what success looks like for this team, and how you’ll stay focused on it together. This works brilliantly with post-its, whiteboards, or online collaboration tools.
Decide What Results Matter Most
What results should we measure and track to know we’re moving towards our goal?
What metrics matter most to us? This could include: KPIs, Customer feedback, Revenue or growth targets, Project milestones
What will help us stay focused, motivated and accountable?
Tip: Keep it simple — track what matters, not everythingDecide on Your Scoreboard
What would make progress visible for us?
What format would work so we can see our progress visually and regularly?
Where and how should we update it?
Ideas: Physical board in the office, Shared slide or doc, Digital dashboard, Weekly team check-in
Tip: The scoreboard only works if people see it regularly.Decide How You’ll Celebrate Success
What do we want to celebrate?
How do we want to celebrate together
This could be: Shout-outs in meetings, a team ritual, sharing wins on Slack or Teams, Lunch together when a milestone is hit
Tip: Celebration isn’t about showiness — it’s about noticing.Make It a Habit
Finally, ask:
How will we keep this alive?
How often will we check in on progress?How will we hold each other accountable for the results we care about?
Need Help Aligning Your Team Around Results?
I design and facilitate practical, people-focussed team workshops that help teams get clear on what success looks like — and how they’ll work together to achieve it.
→ Workshops rooted in insight and action.
→ Tools to align goals and track progress.
→ Space for people to talk (really talk).
If you’d like to chat about how I could support your team, get in touch.
Call Polly on 07966 475195 or email polly@pollyrobinson.co.uk
