Essential for the success of any initiative or program, such as clinical trials, teaming is about working together across functions and roles within the organization to achieve shared goals. More than collaboration, it's about building trust, fostering inclusivity, and aligning efforts for real results. Here we’ll share the eight key team behaviors discovered from our years long research and real-world testing across high-stakes teams in clinical trials.  

Teaming impacts every part of an organization, from pipeline teams to R&D, operations, people strategy, talent management, learning & development, and human resources. It's a crucial driver of productivity, retention, and engagement. 

Based on years of research and real-world application, Cultivate has identified key teaming behaviors that can take clinical trial teams and other high-stakes teams or working groups from good to exceptional. 

Let’s deep dive into these proven behaviors and gain insights and tools that can help your team develop habits that will lead to improved performance and sustainable outcomes.  Also, you can use the link towards the end of this article to download our free guide on "8 Teaming Behaviors for Clinical Trial Team Success.” 

Behavior #1: Self-Awareness

Research shows that 95% of people believe they are self-aware, but only 10-15% truly are. When working in a high-stakes environment like clinical trials, this gap can have a major impact on team performance and project success. In clinical trial teams, where every decision can affect outcomes, the ability to self-reflect and adapt is critical. 

Leaders and team members who take the time to evaluate their partnership and leadership performance, ask for feedback, and hold themselves accountable create a culture of continuous improvement. This approach allows teams to respond dynamically to challenges, maintain high standards, and accelerate progress. 

A good case study where leveraging self-awareness led to team success was in a clinical trial project at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in Switzerland. The clinical trial team integrated a feedback system and personal accountability strategies across more than 50 clinical units. 

Their approach involved frequent communication, structured performance feedback, and accountability measures, leading to better management of patient care, reduced delays in the trial phases, and more milestone delivery. This resulted in substantial improvements in outcomes, including a more consistent milestone delivery. 

Behavior #2: Trust

When team members feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to share ideas openly, address challenges head-on, and collaborate more effectively. In fact, research shows that teams with high trust levels are 50% more productive and 76% more engaged. 

Fostering a safe and trusting environment allows clinical trial teams and similar working groups to navigate complex problems without fear of judgment. Leaders can encourage this by actively listening, promoting transparency, and modeling trust-building behaviors. 

A good example that models this behavior is a large BioPharma company and its CRO that worked with Cultivate to develop healthy teaming. The clinical trial team saw zero turnover for 12 months in one study after going through our comprehensive and tailored program. They were able to build trust and promote a culture of learning and growth despite working in a complex environment that is prone to stress and uncertainty. 

Behavior #3: Inclusivity

In clinical trials and other high-stakes project groups, ensuring that all voices are heard and valued is crucial to success. Indeed, a study shows that employees who strongly agree that they are accepted and valued as a person are 52% less likely to experience burnout. 

Inclusivity within teams starts with effective communication. A common language that reduces technical jargon and translates complex concepts allows the team to accommodate diverse members and enhances understanding and collaboration between them. 

It also helps to create an environment where everyone feels included and engaged when teams use inclusive language—such as "we" instead of "us" and "them." 

Meanwhile, welcoming new team members and supporting their transition fosters a "one team" mindset, which strengthens relationships and promotes a unified approach to achieving goals. 

One of the participants of our Ready Set Team (RST) program shared this takeaway:

"I appreciate that everyone brings something to the table, and we need to be more open to hearing everyone and ensuring everyone feels included." 

Behavior #4: Learning

A McKinsey study found that "companies that emphasize human capital development achieve more consistent and resilient financial performance than their sector peers and help their talent attraction and retention." 

Learning is one of the many ways you can support human capital development because it helps people to adapt and thrive even in high-stakes environments, including clinical trials. 

Documenting, reviewing, and applying lessons learned in previous and ongoing projects enhances the team's experience and increases the probability of success of current initiatives. Additionally, sharing new knowledge and learnings more broadly, when possible, invites different perspectives and significant feedback that can further improve outcomes. 

AstraZeneca's approach to clinical innovation demonstrates the value of learning in clinical trials. For example, their clinical trials site has the most up-to-date and relevant medical information for their studies, accessible by the public and, more importantly, by researchers who can further improve the results. 

Behavior #5: Alignment

Having common goals and objectives provides a clear north star for teams working in fast-paced, variable working environments. When everyone in the team understands these goals and is working towards realizing these objectives, the group dynamics and ultimately the project outcomes benefit greatly. 

Several studies show the effect of having a cohesive direction across teams, departments, and organizations. 

• Well-aligned teams are 40% more likely to meet project milestones on time. 

• Employees with defined roles are 25% more productive at work than those without such clarity. 

• 65% of employees who understand their role in company objectives are more likely to perform effectively. 

• Highly aligned companies grow 19% faster and are 15% more profitable. 

Create alignment within your team establish a compelling motivation for your project—your "why.” Establish the vision and goals of the initiative, and provide how it benefits the company, the individuals in your team, and the community.  

Additionally, develop and communicate clear roles for each team member. Ensure their responsibilities are realistic and align with the project's objectives. 

Behavior #6: Escalation

Effective escalation within clinical trial teams and similar high-performing working groups involves the proactive identification and management of risks and issues before they snowball into larger problems.  

Teams that actively and continuously identify potential risks early and implement a structured escalation process are better equipped to flag potential roadblocks early on and resolve them without major disruptions. On the flip side, 56% of projects that failed did so because of poor risk management practices.  

Teams that have clear communication norms streamline decision-making and avoid bottlenecks. They know when to escalate versus when to simply inform others, speeding up the process and increasing efficacy. 

For instance, one of Cultivate’s partner companies managed a cohesive, aligned neuroscience study team that operates with open communication and addresses conflict before it escalates. 

By leveraging our tailored approach, the team went 19 months with zero escalations in the study. The result is astoundingly significant: team leaders were able to focus on work and study progress, and the project saved around $198K on escalation delays and issues. 

Behavior #7: Conflict Management

Conflict is inevitable in any team—in fact, 85% of employees say they experience conflict at work. 

What matters here is how conflicts are handled within teams and organizations. It can not only make or break a project’s success, but also cost the company money. A study revealed that t U.S. employees spend 2.8 hours per week dealing with conflict, equating to approximately $359 billion in paid hours. 

Putting in place effective conflict management can help keep the team moving forward. It also fosters innovation and prevents minor disagreements from escalating into major roadblocks. 

To do this, teams must: 

• recognize and address conflicts as soon as they arise to prevent larger issues from developing. 

• shift the focus from assigning blame to finding solutions for faster resolutions, and stronger team dynamics. 

• foster an open, respectful environment where team members feel comfortable voicing their concerns. 

• implement structured conflict resolution processes to significantly reduce the impact of disagreements.

Behavior #8: Collaboration

Collaboration isn't just about working together. It's about establishing a culture where information flows seamlessly across teams, functions, and departments. To create this synergy, team leaders and members should actively coordinate communication, consistently engage all members, and invite diverse perspectives. 

Team leaders can start by setting up regular collaborative brainstorming, synthesis, and decision-making discussions. Collaborative teams are five times more likely to be high-performing when all voices are heard than those with less structured communication. 

 The constant communication and participation within teams leads to better engagement—and that’s important because engaged teams have lower turnover, 21% greater profitability, 17% higher productivity, and 10% higher customer ratings than disengaged ones. 

Meanwhile, active listening increased collaboration and productivity by up to 25%. In addition to ensuring the consistency of communication activities between members of the team, it is also pertinent to improve the quality of these discussions by soliciting clarifying questions and practicing active listening in responses. 

Empowering teams through Ready Set Team (RST) 

The technical skills, knowledge, and experience of each member is vital to the success of clinical trial teams and similar high-performing project groups. At the same time, the team as a whole should develop healthy teaming behaviors to overcome common challenges, reduce delays, and further improve outcomes. 

Investing in strategies that empower individual members can take the team and the project to the next level. Empowered teams not only drive better results but also cultivate a workplace culture that retains talent, promotes innovation, and accelerates progress. 

Cultivate specializes in helping high-performing teams elevate their performance and outcomes. 

Through our Ready Set Team (RST) program, we provide a systematic, proactive, and intentional approach to teaming that embeds these eight teaming acumen behaviors. We leverage the information we gathered from primary research on teaming best practices and series of team-tested workshops to develop an ecosystem that supports people in the flow of work through check-ins, tools, coaching, and nudges. 

To date, our teaming work has led to known learnings, unveiled challenges, and opened unknown opportunities. Among the participants of our Ready Set Team sessions: 

• 95% feel that they can apply learnings from teaming to their daily work; 

• 90% feel more empowered after their teaming experience; and, 

• 91% are satisfied with coaching and facilitation. 

If you’d like to learn more about developing high-performing and empowered teams, download our guide "The 8 Teaming Behaviors for Clinical Trial Team Success” from our teaming page by clicking here.

If you want to discuss in-depth how we can help you empower your people and teams, use our contact form to get in touch or if you’re ready to discuss live - schedule a teaming call with us now.