Why would expressing negative emotions at work yield more positive performance? It’s because the alternative to expressing negative emotions is suppressing them, and suppression is cognitively expensive . It involves expending valuable cognitive resources attempting to hide emotions from others, leaving less mental firepower for doing the work.

Yet new research suggests that the highest-performing teams have found subtle ways of leveraging social connections during the pandemic to fuel their success. The findings offer important clues on ways any organization can foster greater connectedness — even within a remote or hybrid work setting — to engineer higher-performing teams.

Of those three essential needs, relatedness, or the desire to feel connected to others, has always been the trickiest for organizations to cultivate. It’s one thing to attract talented employees — but how exactly do you get them to like each other?

So, what do high-performing teams do differently? Our study revealed five key differences, all of which highlight the vital role of close connection among colleagues as a driver of team performance.

1. High-Performing Teams Are Not Afraid to Pick Up the Phone
2. High-Performing Teams Are More Strategic With Their Meetings
3. High-Performing Teams Invest Time Bonding Over Non-Work Topics
4. High-Performing Teams Give and Receive Appreciation More Frequently
5. High-Performing Teams Are More Authentic at Work

The findings indicate that high-performing teams avoid the common pitfalls of poorly run meetings by incorporating practices shown to foster more productive gatherings.

By ensuring that time together is both efficient and collaborative, high-performing teams don’t just make better use of their meetings — they also set the stage for more fruitful interactions, contributing to better relationships.

From a managerial standpoint, it’s easy to frown upon workplace conversations that have nothing to do with work. After all, what good can come from employees spending valuable work time chatting about a major sporting event or blockbuster film?

In sum, the study’s findings suggest that creating a high-performing workplace takes more than simply hiring the right people and arming them with the right tools to do their work. It requires creating opportunities for genuine, authentic relationships to develop.

Fostering close connections among teammates need not be expensive or time-consuming. By incorporating simple, evidence-based practices that yield better communication, more productive meetings, and deeper friendships, every workplace has the ability to fuel people’s basic psychological need for relatedness and lift team performance.