Ways of Working: How High-Performing Teams Actually Get Things Done
Executive Summary
Ways of working shape how teams collaborate, decide, and deliver results. This guide explores what effective ways of working look like in practice, from agile methodologies to distributed decision-making. Learn how to assess your current approaches, co-design improvements with your team, and build sustainable processes that align with your strategic goals.
In most organisations, how work gets done is at least as important as what gets done. Enter “ways of working”, a concept once relegated to management jargon, now increasingly recognised as central to performance, adaptability, and culture.
But what exactly are ways of working? Why do they matter? And can they be improved, or merely endured?
Understanding Ways of Working
Ways of working refer to the values, agreed behaviours, processes, tools, and norms that govern how people collaborate, decide, and deliver. The term is expansive, encompassing both formal frameworks and the unwritten rules of organisational life.
Ways of working reflect the “DNA” of the organisation and shape how teams function, from the day-to-day to the strategically significant.
Key elements include:
• Team norms and behaviours: How people communicate, resolve conflict, give feedback
• Decision-making structures: Hierarchical, consensus-driven, or delegated
• Workflow processes: Planning, reporting, meeting rhythms, and how collaboration actually plays out
• Tools and technology: The digital infrastructure that supports work
• Cultural values and leadership style: Including openness, autonomy, and psychological safety
While ways of working often evolve informally, high-performing organisations take a more deliberate approach, engineering internal mechanics to match strategic intent.
Ways of Working in Practice
Team of Teams: Adapting Through Trust and Transparency General Stanley McChrystal’s “Team of Teams” model prioritises organisational agility over rigid control. Its pillars (shared consciousness, empowered execution, mutual trust, and decentralised adaptability) have influenced sectors from defence to corporate boardrooms. The model values fast, informed decisions made at the edge, not slow ones made at the centre.
Agile: More Than a Tech Thing Born in software development but now far more widespread, Agile emphasises short cycles, daily stand-ups, and user feedback. It is as much mindset as methodology: learning trumps perfection, and delivery outranks deliberation.
Distributed Decision-Making Firms such as Haier and Buurtzorg have embraced decentralised governance. Small, autonomous teams replace bureaucratic sprawl, supported by shared principles rather than top-down orders.
Smartsheet and Collaborative Clarity When spreadsheets cease to serve, tools like Smartsheet provide a shared source of truth. They improve transparency, reduce duplication, and support cross-functional alignment.
Why Ways of Working Matter
Strategy is Nothing Without Execution
McKinsey noted long ago that transformations fail less due to bad ideas than bad follow-through. Execution is where good intentions go to die.
Clarity Reduces Friction
Ambiguity is the enemy of productivity. When objectives, decision roles, and processes are clear, people move from guessing to doing.
Culture Exists Through Action
Culture lives in behaviours, not posters. If collaboration or accountability are espoused but not enacted, the result is disillusionment and attrition.
Flexibility is No Longer Optional
Post-pandemic, flexibility has moved from perk to expectation. Hybrid models, asynchronous work, and lighter meeting loads are conditions in the war for talent.
How to Improve Ways of Working
Improving ways of working isn’t about adopting the latest trend. It’s about aligning how people work with what your organisation is trying to achieve.
Start with the Work
- Are your rituals and routines actually helping?
- Are meetings decision-oriented, or simply theatre?
- Are tools used coherently, or competing in a digital turf war?
- Is time spent delivering value, or navigating rework?
Co-Design with Those Who Live It
Top-down redesigns rarely land well. Teams know where the real frictions are. Try:
- “Stop / Start / Continue” retrospectives
- Cross-functional team charters
- Mapping the “invisible work” that quietly consumes hours
Make the Invisible Visible
Unspoken rules drive more behaviour than handbooks. Document team norms to expose misalignments and help newcomers navigate. Create “how we work” guides, onboarding manuals with real-life norms, and visual workflows using tools like Miro or Lucidchart.
Revisit Regularly
Ways of working aren’t set-and-forget. What worked before may not work now. Schedule reflection points. Ask: “Is how we’re working still serving what we’re trying to do?”
Lead by Doing
Leadership casts a long shadow. If leaders talk trust but hoard decisions, or praise collaboration but reward lone heroes, credibility evaporates. Model desired behaviours, sponsor changes actively, and create safety to experiment and
fail.
Moving Forward with Intent
Ways of working are not the preserve of HR, nor a footnote in change strategies. They’re the connective tissue between people, purpose, and performance.
In an era of hybrid work, high turnover, and constant disruption, intentional ways of working are no longer a nice-to-have. They are a strategic differentiator.
Whether launching a startup or recalibrating a conglomerate, asking how work gets done may be the smartest question you’re not yet asking.
Let’s talk
Ready to transform how your team works together?
Our team development workshops help organisations design and implement ways of working that actually work. We combine practical frameworks with real-world application to create sustainable change that sticks. Contact us to explore how we can help your organisation move from good intentions to great execution.
