Hidden in plain sight: the secret but obvious behaviors of the most effective teams
Why do some teams consistently deliver while others spin their wheels? Why do some teams effectively connect with other teams and resources to drive outcomes while others go it alone and under-perform? What makes a “team of teams” work?
New research using data from our LTPI™ reveals surprising insights into the difference makers for the most effective teams, and their ability to collaborate and work across other teams and functions. Based on our research on high performing teams, we now know definitively what behaviors and characteristics make teams more effective.
What we learned: the “hidden secret”
Our analysis of LTPI™ survey feedback from over 250 raters showed that the behaviors that define a high performing team fell into two groups of highly related items that revealed the “hidden secret” behind the teams that scored the highest on an independent measure of team effectiveness. The teams rated by all raters as the most effective focused on two themes or factors:
- Their internal interactions, and
- Their external relationships and resources.
How a team seeks and leverages external sources of information and opinions is as a significant factor in perceived team effectiveness as how they work with their teammates. Our research uniquely shows that how teams interact with resources outside their team is just as important as interactions within the team.So, while this finding may be a case of the blindingly obvious once you hear it, most research on team effectiveness does not even look at how a team interacts with the world outside of the team. And, in a world where lack of cross-functional cooperation is a major factor in why companies fail to successfully execute their business objectives, how a team interacts with the world outside their own team needs to be better understood. And our assessment gives you a window into these behaviors.We also found that some facets, or qualities, in our team assessment model have a greater correlation with the internal and external factors than others. Below is the LTPI™ model with the four facets that were found to be the most related with internal factors in yellow, the three with external factors in blue and one facet that traveled with both in green.As you can see, the internal factor (which includes the elements circled in yellow) that focuses on the dynamics among team members is all about trust among team members. The internal team’s culture is key to effective team dynamics.Two of the facets that go with the external factor, or the team’s relationship with other teams, (and shown circled in blue), are in the Credibility dimension which focuses a great deal on how the team inspires faith in people not on the team. And Communication, the third facet that strongly relates to the external factor has a number of items that focus on communicating with people outside of the team.It also makes sense that Courage travels with both since some items are about having difficult conversations with teammates (internal to the team) and others about challenging people in power (often outside of the team).
Removing the mystery: predicting the most effective teams
Our analysis of the LTPI™ data also included a separate question that asked all raters (team members, members of other teams, key stakeholders) to rate the team’s effectiveness on a 1-5 scale with a score of “5” meaning “extremely effective.” Our research showed that both the internal and external factors were highly predictive of a team’s perceived effectiveness. Teams that were rated higher on the internal or external factors were also significantly more likely to be scored a “4” or “5” on effectiveness. And if they were scored higher than other teams in both the internal and external factors, they were 96% more likely to be rated highly effective. So, with the most effective teams, being highly rated in both had a multiplier effect!That is, the most effective teams pay as much attention to how they interact with people outside their team as they do to people on their team.We have conclusively found that if you only look at skills, behaviors, and dynamics between team members, you are missing half the picture of what makes for a high performing team. The most effective teams know they are not islands, but are part of a network of teams and must be a “team player” with other teams. Organizations thrive not when individual teams are effective, but when effective teams leverage each other’s skills and perspectives.This is great news for leaders and their teams, since the LTPI™ can provide a roadmap for improving team effectiveness. Teams can get feedback on those specific behaviors that are helping and hurting their perceived effectiveness. And when you can get data on where to prioritize to move the needle, you can get to the change you want, sooner and more readily.
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From top-down to judgment all around: The AI imperative for organizations
Each business revolution has reshaped not only how businesses operate, but how they organize themselves and empower their people. From the industrial age to the information era, and now into the age of artificial intelligence, technology has always brought with it a reconfiguration of authority, capability, and judgment.
In the 19th century, industrialization centralized work and knowledge. The factory system required hierarchical structures where strategy, information, and decision-making were concentrated at the top. Managers at the apex made tradeoffs for the greater good of the enterprise because they were the only ones with access to the full picture.
Then came the information economy. With it came the distribution of information and a need for more agile, team-based structures. Cross-functional collaboration and customer proximity became competitive necessities. Organizations flattened, experimented with matrix models, and pushed decision-making closer to where problems were being solved. What had once been the purview of a select few, judgment, strategic tradeoffs, and insight became expected competencies for managers and team leads across the enterprise.
Now, AI is changing the game again. But this time, it’s not just about access to data. It’s about access to intelligence.
Generative AI democratizes access not only to information, but to intelligent output. That shifts the burden for humans from producing insights to evaluating them. Judgment, which was long the domain of a few executives, must now become a baseline competency for the many across the organization.
But here’s the paradox: while AI extends our capacity for intelligence, discernment, the human ability to weigh context, values, and consequence, is still best left in the hands of human leaders. As organizations begin to automate early-career work, they may inadvertently erase the very pathways and opportunities by which judgment was built.
Why judgment matters more than ever
Deloitte’s 2023 Human Capital Trends survey found that 85% of leaders believe independent decision-making is more important than ever, but only 26% say they’re ready to support it. That shortfall threatens to neutralize the very productivity gains AI promises.
If employees can’t question, challenge, or contextualize AI’s output, then intelligent tools become dangerous shortcuts. The organization stalls, not from a lack of answers, but from a lack of sense-making.
What organizations must do
To stay competitive, organizations must shift from simply adopting AI to designing AI-aware ways of working:
- Build new learning paths for judgment development. As AI replaces easily systematized tasks, companies must replace lost learning experiences with mentorship, simulations, and intentional development planning.
- Design workflows that require human input. Treat AI as a co-pilot, not an autopilot. Embed review checkpoints and tradeoff discussions. Just as innovation processes have stage gates, so should AI analyses.
- Make judgment measurable. Assess and develop decision-making under ambiguity from entry-level roles onward. Research shows the best learning strategy for this is high-fidelity simulations.
- Start earlier. Leadership development must begin far earlier in career paths, because judgment, not just knowledge, is the new differentiator.
What’s emerging is not just a flatter hierarchy, but a more distributed sense of judgment responsibility. To thrive, organizations must prepare their people not to outthink AI, but to out-judge it.
BTS acquires Nexo to strengthen its position in Brazil and Latin America
P R E S S R E L E A S E
Stockholm, May 5, 2025
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – BTS Group AB (publ), a leading global consultancy specializing in strategy execution, change, and people development, has agreed to acquire Nexo Pesquisa e Consultoria Ltda., Nexo, a boutique consulting firm headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.
Nexo has been growing continuously since it was founded in 2017. With revenues of approximately 12 million Brazilian Reales (approx. 2.1 million USD) in 2024, and a highly capable team of 21 members, Nexo has built a strong reputation for delivering transformative projects in strategy, innovation, leadership, and culture.
Nexo collaborates with a great portfolio of clients across sectors such as financial services, consumer goods, and technology, assisting both local and global companies in navigating uncertainty, unlocking creativity, and activating strategy through people. Their work encompasses culture transformation, leadership development, employer value proposition, innovation culture, and vision alignment – supported by proprietary methodologies and frameworks.
BTS currently operates in Brazil servicing both local and multinational clients with a team of 13 employees. By acquiring Nexo, BTS not only increases the Group’s footprint in Brazil but also adds significant capabilities in culture and transformation services. Nexo’s client base has limited overlap with BTS, creating strong growth potential and synergy opportunities.
“Nexo is known for helping leaders and organizations tackle some of the most complex, human-centered challenges with creativity, empathy, and strategic clarity and the Nexo team is loved by their clients,” says Philios Andreou, Deputy CEO of BTS Group and President of the Other Markets Unit. “Their products and services complement and elevate our existing offerings, especially in culture transformation, and we are thrilled to welcome the Nexo team to BTS.”
“We’re excited to join BTS. We’ve long admired BTS’s approach and unique portfolio to support large organizations and leaders in connecting strategy with culture across the organization,” says Andreas Auerbach, co founder of Nexo. “Becoming part of BTS, allows us to scale our impact and bring more value to our clients while staying true to our values and culture,” adds Mariana Lage Andrade, co-founder of Nexo.
Upon completion of the transaction, Nexo’s business and organization will merge with BTS Brazil. Nexo’s founders will assume senior management roles in the joint operation.
The acquisition includes a limited initial cash consideration. Additional purchase price considerations will be paid between 2026 and 2028, provided Nexo meets specific performance targets. A limited portion of any such additional purchase price considerations will be paid in newly issued BTS shares. The transaction is effective immediately.
BTS’s acquisition strategy continues to focus on broadening our service portfolio, expanding our geographic reach, and enhancing our capabilities to support future organic growth in a fragmented market.
For more information, please contact:
Philios Andreou
Deputy CEO
BTS Group AB
philios.andreou@bts.com
Michael Wallin
Head of investor relations
BTS Group AB
michael.wallin@bts.com
+46-8-587 070 02
+46-708-78 80 19
High-performing teaming
Work today is too complex for individuals to succeed in isolation. Almost every critical decision, innovation, or transformation depends on teams working effectively together. Leaders rely on their teams to deliver results. Teams, in turn, rely on their leaders to create the conditions where performance is possible. This exchange, what leaders need from their teams, and what teams need from their leaders, sits at the heart of what we call teaming.
When teaming is strong, leaders get what they need from their teams [creativity, resilience, execution] and teams get what they need from leaders [direction, support, and the conditions to thrive]. It’s how strategy becomes action, how uncertainty becomes opportunity, and how businesses stay competitive in a fast-changing world.