How to build a successful team: Lessons from PSV Head Coach and HR leaders

Every HR and L&D professional knows that building a successful team is about much more than hitting performance targets.In today’s hybrid and high-pressure workplace, the most effective teams are those that adapt quickly, resolve conflict constructively, build trust and sustain a strong culture even when challenges mount.

Yet the question of how to build an effective team remains universal. That’s why in this article we combine elite sports coaching insights with proven HR strategies to help you unlock lasting team performance.

We’ll cover:

• Real-world insights from PSV Head Coach Peter Bosz

• A framework for the stages of team building in management

• A practical checklist for team development

• Approaches to strengthen trust, resilience and culture

What defines a successful team?

Success is no longer just about outcomes. It’s about the collaboration and trust that make those outcomes possible. While hitting targets is essential, the true test of a team is whether it can sustain performance under pressure, adapt to constant change and resolve conflict without losing momentum.

For HR and L&D professionals, this means moving beyond surface-level metrics. The hidden causes of disengagement, turnover and burnout often stem from poor collaboration, low adaptability and lack of psychological safety.

The business case is clear: organisations with highly engaged teams outperform others across multiple measures, including productivity, retention and 23% higher profitability.

In short, learning how to build effective teams and sustain team development is not just a people priority, it’s a business imperative.

Stages of team building in management

One of the most widely used frameworks for team development is Tuckman’s model, which outlines five key stages. Each stage shapes trust, culture and results, providing HR and L&D leaders with a roadmap to high performance.

Forming

‍When teams first come together, they focus on orientation and understanding roles. Trust is tentative, culture is undefined and results are limited. Leaders play a crucial role by setting expectations early and guiding initial cohesion.

Peter Bosz, Head Coach of PSV, knows the importance of clarity from day one:

“The fast-paced nature of my job as a football coach means there’s a huge demand for immediate results. There is no time to wait. That means I have to be clear about expectations, goals and responsibilities from the very start of the season.”

Just as in sport, workplace leaders must establish clarity quickly. Gallup research shows that managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement, making leadership the key factor in early team success.

Storming‍

As team members test boundaries, conflict is inevitable. Left unmanaged, this stage can erode trust and culture. HR and L&D professionals should introduce conflict-management strategies, foster psychological safety and help prevent burnout.

Handling this phase well is essential to building long-term trust and resilience.

Norming‍

Teams begin to establish shared norms, clarify roles and strengthen relationships. Collaboration improves, trust deepens and performance rises as members align on common goals.

Intentional interventions at this stage can transform friction into sustainable collaboration.
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Performing‍

Teams reach peak effectiveness when they operate autonomously and collaboratively. Trust is high, culture is strong and results are consistent.

HR and L&D should focus on enabling innovation, adaptability and resilience so teams can thrive in changing conditions.

Adjourning‍

When projects conclude, teams celebrate results and reflect on lessons learned.

This final stage reinforces team effectiveness, helping HR and L&D professionals continuously to refine their strategies in building high performing teams.

How to build an effective team: practical strategies

Elite coaches often say that talent may win games, but teamwork, trust and resilience win championships.

The same holds true in business. Building a great team requires intentional steps, clear leadership and ongoing organisational support.

Peter Bosz highlights three types of leaders every team needs:

• The social connector

• The on-field captain

• The morale booster, or as he calls it, the “captain of fun”

By recognising and nurturing these informal leaders, he creates teams where every individual feels valued, supported and connected. Watch the "three captains" discussion below.

HR and L&D professionals can apply these lessons with practical actions:

• Set clear goals and define roles so every member knows what success looks like.

• Foster open communication with regular check-ins, feedback loops and transparent decision-making.

• Build trust through rituals and team-building exercises that strengthen cohesion.

• Prepare leaders with a simple checklist: clarify roles, anticipate challenges, promote psychological safety and identify informal leaders.

For example, in a hybrid team with conflicting priorities, identifying a “social connector” to facilitate collaboration, an “on-field captain” to drive execution and a “morale booster” to maintain energy mirrors Bosz’s winning approach on the pitch.

How to build trust in a team

Trust is the foundation of collaboration and performance. It grows in environments where people feel safe to share ideas, admit mistakes and engage in open dialogue.

Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson’s research revealed that teams with higher psychological safety reported more errors. Not because they made more mistakes, but because they felt safe enough to acknowledge them and learn.

This shows that psychological safety is a core driver in how to build trust in a team and long-term resilience. For HR and L&D professionals, the challenge is translating this concept into daily leadership behaviours. Leaders can cultivate psychological safety by practicing five key habits according to Edmondson:

• Setting clear expectations: define roles, goals, and processes to reduce uncertainty.

• Encouraging openness: create space for honest feedback and difficult conversations.

• Promoting growth: support professional development and risk-taking.

• Addressing conflicts promptly: resolve disagreements constructively before they damage culture.

• Practicing integrity: follow through on commitments and model transparency.

This resonates with Bosz’s coaching philosophy:

“I challenge my players to make mistakes and I become angry when they are afraid to make mistakes. In football you have to show courage and not be afraid to lose the ball. Everybody makes mistakes—I make mistakes every day—but it’s about whether you learn from them and avoid making the same mistake over and over again.”

In both sport and business, the message is clear: teams thrive when leaders normalise risk-taking, create safe spaces for learning and build trust.

How to build a strong team culture & resilience

Resilience doesn’t exist without psychological safety. When people feel safe to speak up, admit mistakes and learn openly, they’re simply better equipped to adapt under pressure and recover quickly from setbacks. This connection is at the heart of how to build a successful team: trust fuels resilience, and resilience sustains culture.
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Elite teams like PSV show how rituals strengthen both culture and resilience—celebrating wins together, debriefing openly after losses and ensuring every player feels included.

The same applies in the workplace: organisations that prioritise how to build a strong team culture and invest in team resilience report higher engagement, lower burnout and more sustainable performance.

Here are five practical ways to reinforce team culture and resilience:

1. Define and communicate shared values.

2. Celebrate milestones and achievements.

3. Debrief setbacks constructively to embed learning.

4. Create rituals that build identity and cohesion.

5. Provide ongoing development to strengthen adaptability.

As Peter Drucker put it, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” In today’s workplace, resilience is what ensures culture endures even when challenges mount.

Overcoming the four most common team-building pitfalls

Because even the strongest, most efficient and highly resilient teams encounter challenges or roadblocks in their efforts to improve. Here are the four most common pitfalls, and how to tackle them effectively:

Communication and Engagement Barriers in Remote or Hybrid Teams

Remote work can make collaboration feel fragmented and slow. Next to that research found that only 28% of fully remote workers feel connected to their employer's mission or purpose.

Solution: Establish structured touchpoints and shared agreements. For example, a global finance team implemented weekly check-ins and a “ways of working” charter, which improved alignment and reduced miscommunication. Tools like Microsoft Teams can also streamline updates without overwhelming employees.

Dysfunctional Team Dynamics

In the 2023–24 season, Dutch football club Ajax Amsterdam experienced significant internal dysfunction. Due to unclear roles and responsibilities within the management structure and a lack of clear direction. The unclarity was leading to poor performance on the field as well with a historic 5–2 defeat to PSV, placing them at the bottom of the standings for the first time in the club's history.

This example is perfectly highlights how conflicts, unclear roles and lack of psychological safety can stunt team performance.

Solution: Invest in team coaching and clearly define roles and responsibilities. Promote open communication and employee autonomy, which helps resolve conflicts early and strengthens team cohesion.

Burnout and Overload

High-demand workplaces can quickly lead to stress and disengagement. McKinsey reports that burnout symptoms affects one in four employees globally, making it a critical organisational issue.

Solution: Embed resilience practices into daily routines. A healthcare organisation reduced burnout by introducing micro-breaks and resilience training, allowing staff to recharge and maintain focus. Encouraging flexible work hours and mental health days also helps prevent exhaustion.

Lack of Trust and Psychological Safety

Teams cannot perform at their best without trust. According to Google’s Project Aristotle, psychological safety was the top predictor of team effectiveness, more important than individual talent.

A culture of open feedback is central to this—when team members feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and even challenge one another, trust deepens and performance improves.

Something Peter Bosz also relates to:

‍"As a manager, the most important thing is being honest. Good is good, bad is bad. I tell my players straight up, even if people around me say I’m too honest. They know that when I give feedback, I mean it. I’m direct—I let them know when they’ve played well, and I let them know when they haven’t. Clear, honest feedback builds trust and helps the team improve together."

Solution: Leaders should model vulnerability, provide constructive feedback and celebrate team wins. Creating spaces for open dialogue and shared decision-making strengthens trust and encourages collaboration, even under pressure. That’s how to build a successful team.

Checklist: how to build a successful team

So far, we’ve laid out the key building blocks of how to build a strong team culture. From forming and storming to performing and adjourning, each stage of team building in management matters. Use the checklist below to put these principles into practice with your own team.

1. Establish clear foundations

• Define team goals and individual roles from the start.

• Communicate expectations clearly to prevent ambiguity.

• Introduce team norms and early rituals to build cohesion.

• Encourage open discussion about responsibilities and objectives.

2. Navigate conflict and boundaries

• Recognise that conflict is natural in the Storming stage.

• Apply structured conflict resolution strategies.

• Promote psychological safety to allow risk-taking and learning.

• Monitor engagement and prevent burnout during high-pressure periods.

3. Strengthen collaboration and culture

• Encourage shared decision-making and mutual accountability.

• Reinforce team norms and clarify responsibilities as roles evolve.

• Celebrate small wins to foster motivation and belonging.

• Ensure feedback loops are consistent and constructive.

4. Enable high performance

• Empower team members to work autonomously while aligned to goals.

• Support innovation and adaptability under changing circumstances.

• Identify informal leaders: social connectors, task captains, morale boosters.

• Continuously invest in skill and professional development.

5. Reflect and learn

• Conduct debriefs after projects or milestones.

• Capture lessons learned and apply them to future teams.

• Recognise achievements and celebrate successes.

• Encourage continuous improvement of processes and culture.

6. Build trust and psychological safety

• Lead with honesty, transparency, and integrity.

• Encourage openness and constructive feedback.

• Normalise mistakes as learning opportunities.

• Address conflicts promptly and fairly.

• Support personal growth and resilience-building.

7. Reinforce team culture and resilience

• Clearly define and communicate shared team values.

• Establish rituals that reinforce belonging and cohesion.

• Provide structured support for stress management and adaptability.

• Celebrate milestones and learn from setbacks.

 Building teams that last

Building a successful team takes more than individual talent. Teams thrive on trust, resilience, clear roles and a strong culture.

Just as in football, winning teams are built through deliberate stages. Business leaders can apply the same principles: guide teams through conflict, foster collaboration and celebrate milestones. With psychological safety and consistent feedback, teams can recover from setbacks and sustain high performance.

By combining lessons from sport with HR best practices, managers can create high-performing teams that last and adapt—whatever the challenge.