What Are Team Values? Definition and Why They Matter

The success of any organization hinges on its teams’ ability to collaborate.

At the heart of this collaboration lies a set of shared principles known as team values. These values are the foundation for collaboration, decision-making and overall team dynamics.

In this guide, we'll explore the concept of team values, provide concrete examples and offer actionable tips to help you cultivate a strong value system within your team.

What are team values?

Team values are the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide a team's behavior, interactions and decision-making processes.

They represent the core ideals that team members collectively agree to uphold and embody in their daily work.

These values act as a compass, providing direction and consistency in how team members approach their tasks, communicate with one another and navigate challenges.

For example, a team might have "transparency" as one of its core values. This would mean team members commit to clear and honest communication, sharing information freely and being open about successes and failures.

In practice, this could manifest as regular status updates, open-door policies or using project management tools that allow everyone to see task progress.

Why are team values important?

Team values play a crucial role in shaping a team's culture, performance and overall success. Here are seven key reasons why team values are essential:

Alignment

Values ensure team members have common goals and objectives to keep everyone working in the same direction.

Decision-making

Team values provide a framework for making decisions, especially in challenging or unclear situations.

Cohesion

Shared values foster unity and belonging among team members, strengthening relationships and collaboration.

Accountability

Values set clear expectations for behavior and performance, making it easier to hold team members accountable.

Conflict resolution

When conflicts arise, team values can be a neutral reference point for finding solutions.

Recruitment and retention

Clear team values can attract like-minded people and retain team members who appreciate those values.

Motivation

Values can give team members a sense of purpose and meaning, motivating them to do better.

Why you shouldn’t overlook team values

Failing to establish or maintain strong team values can lead to several negative outcomes:

Misalignment

Team members may work against each other or prioritize different things without team values.

Poor communication

Lack of clear values can cause miscommunication and misunderstandings among team members.

Decreased productivity

When values are unclear, team efficiency and effectiveness can suffer.

Higher turnover

Team members who disagree with the team's values are more likely to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Ethical lapses

Without a strong ethical framework, there's a higher risk of unethical behavior or decision-making. Team values reduce this risk.

Reduced innovation

A lack of shared values can stifle creativity and openness to new ideas. If people don’t feel comfortable sharing ideas, innovation suffers.

Lower morale

Teams without strong, positive values often experience decreased job satisfaction and engagement.

Company values vs. team values

While company values and team values are related, they are not necessarily the same.

Company values are typically broader and apply to the entire organization, while team values are more specific to a particular group within the company.

Company values:

set the organization’s overall culture,
have little input from employees,
apply across different roles and
often align with the company's mission and long-term goals.

Team values:

are specific to a particular team or department,
often come from team members,
may be more detailed or role-specific and
should support company values but can have unique elements.

For instance, a company might have "innovation" as a core value. A team within the company might have "rapid prototyping" as a value that aligns with the broader company's value.

15 examples of team values for inspiration

Open communication

Open communication emphasizes transparency, honesty and the free flow of information within the team.

A huge benefit of open communication is that team members feel comfortable bringing up any concerns or issues. Maybe they’re struggling with an error in a new system or need guidance with a task. Thanks to open communication, the team saves time and can uncover problems before they impact the company.

Actionable tip: Implement a daily stand-up meeting where team members briefly share their progress, plans and any obstacles they're facing.

Respect

Respect promotes treating all team members with dignity, regardless of their position or background. Without respect, people may interrupt each other, be rude, laugh at ideas and generally discourage quieter team members from speaking up.

Actionable tip: Establish a "no interruption" rule during team discussions to ensure everyone can speak freely.

Focus on people

Prioritizing team members' well-being and development is key. A people-first culture focuses on recognizing achievements, encouraging growth and caring about team members’ happiness. That may look like a focus on professional development or a careful work-life balance.

Actionable tip: Implement a mentorship program within the team to foster personal and professional growth.

Humility

Humility encourages team members to be open to feedback and acknowledge their limitations.

Admitting to mistakes is crucial, whether that’s leaders or team members. Mistakes don’t get brushed under the carpet, and the team can improve on any problems.

Actionable tip: Start team meetings with a "lessons learned" session where members share recent mistakes and what they learned from them.

Creativity and openness to change

This value promotes innovation and adaptability within the team. Creativity means better solutions to problems, which can save the team time and the company money.

With the business landscape ever-changing, being adaptable is essential for teams. Resisting change can put companies decades behind their competitors. Plus, change can hugely benefit a team, whether that’s new management styles or better tech.

Actionable tip: Hold regular brainstorming sessions where your team explores and welcomes all ideas without immediate judgment.

Organization

Organization emphasizes efficiency and structure in work processes. Streamlining processes is great for teams as they have more time to get their work done than getting frustrated with red tape.

Actionable tip: Use project management tools like Trello or Asana to organize tasks and ensure they’re visible to all team members.

Concentration on goals and results

A goal-focused team emphasizes outcome-oriented work and achievement. This keeps team members motivated as they always know what they’re working toward. These goals can also tie in with company goals, so team members see the bigger-picture impact.

Actionable tip: Set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals for each project and regularly review progress.

Continuous learning

This value promotes ongoing skill development and knowledge. Whether that’s management taking public speaking classes or team members learning new tech, a continuous learning environment benefits everyone.

Actionable tip: Allocate a portion of the team's budget to learning resources and encourage members to share new knowledge with the team.

Volunteerism

Volunteerism encourages team members to take initiative and help others without anyone asking. It can create a deeper sense of ownership and boost workplace morale and happiness.

Actionable tip: Recognize and celebrate instances of people volunteering in team meetings to reinforce the behavior.

Work-life balance

Recognizing the importance of personal time and well-being alongside work commitments is crucial for avoiding burnout. With mental health concerns like depression and anxiety costing $1 trillion in productivity every year, it pays to care about work-life balance.

Actionable tip: Implement a "no email after-hours" policy to respect personal time.

Passion for work

Promoting enthusiasm and dedication to the team's mission keeps employees interested in their work and happy to be contributing to the bigger picture. Seeing the impact of their work can be a huge motivator, especially in people-focused fields like health and teaching.

Actionable tip: Regularly share success stories and positive customer feedback to remind the team of their impact.

Efficiency

Efficiency emphasizes making the best use of time and resources. That means not dealing with outdated tech and upgrading to software that actually works. And if a seven-step process can be a three-step process, ensure everyone chooses the fastest option.

Actionable tip: Use time-tracking tools to identify and eliminate time-wasting activities.

Strong leadership

Strong leadership promotes guidance, support and inspiration within the team. A great leader knows how to communicate, giving the team confidence. Team members can do their best, feel comfortable taking directions and don’t second-guess every task they do.

Actionable tip: Rotate management roles for different projects to develop leadership skills across the team.

Compassion

Compassion is crucial as it encourages empathy and understanding among team members. This builds a better team bond, increases loyalty and reduces the risk of arguments.

Actionable tip: Implement a buddy system for new team members to support them and help them settle in.

Trust

Trust promotes a safe and supportive team environment. Without trust, team members may feel nervous about sharing their opinions and ideas, reducing innovation and buy-in.

Actionable tip: Encourage peer-to-peer recognition programs where team members can acknowledge each other's contributions.

How to create your team values

Ready to create a set of team values? Follow this 10-step guide to get your team on the right track toward better collaboration.

1. Gather input

Involving all team members in the process is crucial for creating values that resonate with everyone. This step ensures buy-in and a sense of ownership.

Ways to gather team members’ opinions include:

conducting an anonymous survey asking team members to list values they believe are important,
organizing a workshop or series of brainstorming sessions where team members can openly discuss their ideas and
using a facilitator to ensure everyone gets their say, especially in larger teams.

2. Identify common themes

Look for patterns and recurring ideas in your team’s opinions to streamline their collective wisdom.

Ways to group themes include:

creating a master list of all suggested values,
using word clouds to visualize common themes and
grouping similar ideas and creating umbrella terms for related concepts

Discuss these themes as a team to ensure everyone agrees on the groupings.

3. Prioritize

Not all values can be top priority. To focus on the most critical principles for your team:

use a voting system to allow team members to indicate their top choices,
try the secret vote method, eliminating the risk of the bandwagon effect,
discuss the potential impact of each value on team performance,
consider the alignment with overall company goals and
aim for a manageable number of values (typically 3–7) to ensure they're memorable and actionable.

4. Define and clarify

Clear definitions prevent misinterpretation and ensure everyone is on the same page:

For each value, create a clear, concise definition.
Provide examples of how your team might demonstrate the value in day-to-day work.
Discuss potential challenges in living up to each value and how to overcome them.
Create a "value in action" statement for each value to illustrate what it truly looks like.

5. Get consensus

Ensure all team members commit to the chosen values by:

holding a team meeting to present the final list of values and their definitions,
allowing time for questions, concerns and suggestions for improvement,
using techniques like fist-to-five voting to gauge the level of agreement on each value.

Be prepared to start again if there's significant disagreement on any value.

6. Document

Make your team values easily accessible and visible to all team members by:

creating a visually appealing document or infographic that outlines your team's values,
including the values in your team charter or mission statement,
posting the values in central locations in your physical workspace or virtual tools and
including the values in onboarding materials for new team members.

7. Implement

Integrate the values into daily work practices to ensure they're not just words on a page.

Bring values into decision-making by asking, "Does this align with our values?"
Use the values as criteria in performance reviews and feedback sessions.
Create team rituals that reinforce the values, like spotlighting value behavior in meetings.
Develop a reward or recognition system for those who demonstrate team values.

8. Review and refine

Regularly assess how well the team is living up to its values and make adjustments as necessary:

Schedule quarterly or half-yearly "values check-ins" to discuss how well the team is displaying each value.
Use surveys or anonymous feedback tools to gather honest input on how well your team is practicing their values.
Be open to evolving your values as your team grows and changes.
Consider creating "value champions" who are responsible for monitoring and promoting specific values.

9. Lead by example

As a team leader, it's crucial to consistently model the values you've established by:

Regularly reflecting on how your actions align with the team's values.
Sharing personal stories of how you've applied the values in your work.
Acknowledging when you fall short and discussing how you plan to improve.

10. Celebrate and reinforce

Regularly encourage, acknowledge and celebrate instances of team members living up to team values by:

creating a "Value of the Month" program to focus on one value at a time,
sharing success stories in team meetings or newsletters and
creating a peer nomination system to recognize value-aligned behaviors.

Follow these 10 steps to create a robust set of team values that are meaningful, actionable and deeply ingrained in your team's culture. The process should evolve with your team's needs and experiences, so revisit your team values regularly.

The last card

Team values are the bedrock of successful collaboration, providing a shared framework for behavior, decision-making and interaction. Establishing and nurturing strong team values creates a more cohesive, productive and satisfied team.

Whether you're focusing on open communication, respect, continuous learning or any other principle, the key is to consistently embody these values in your daily work. This fosters a positive team culture that drives success and makes work more fulfilling for everyone.

At Pip Decks, we're passionate about helping teams unlock their full potential through effective collaboration and strong values. From blog posts about leadership communication to card decks for teams, we can help you take your team to the next level. Together, let's build teams that truly thrive.

FAQs

What is a team value statement?

A team value statement is a concise declaration of the core principles and beliefs that guide a team's behavior and decision-making.

It typically includes a list of the team's values, often briefly explaining what each value means in practice. For example:

"Our team values open communication, mutual respect and continuous improvement. We believe in sharing information freely, treating each other with dignity and always striving to learn and grow."

What are team values and team norms?

While team values and norms are related concepts, they are not identical.

Team values are the core beliefs and principles that guide a team's behavior and decision-making. They represent the ideals that the team aspires to uphold.

Team norms are the specific behaviors and practices that a team agrees to follow in their day-to-day work. These norms often stem from and support the team's values.

For example, if a team value is "open communication," a related team norm might be "We will respond to all internal messages within 24 hours."

Team values explained: the principles of successful collaboration