AI or Not, What Makes Good Teams Effective May Never Change

Recently, I finished my first AI sprint—a process where a product manager (me), designer, and developer work together to solve a problem in a week’s time, harnessing AI tools to help with that process.

While AI added novelty and a bit of excitement to the process, the things that made it go well had very little to do with AI and everything to do with how good teams work.

Trust

When we talk about good teams—whether in the product world or with the Golden State Warriors—it starts with trust. People have to know that we are all putting in our best effort and that any disagreements are based solely on differences in point of view, not personal animosity. With AI, this is probably even more important because team members need to feel safe experimenting with new tools and admitting when they don’t know something.

Collaboration

Effective teams excel at communicating, sharing ideas, and integrative thinking. I’ve worked in VR, traditional web development, and now product development, and the best teams I’ve been part of all had this in common. With these teams, 1+1=3 as we amplify each other’s effectiveness and build on one another’s contributions.

Engagement

When every member of a team is engaged, it sets the standard for how we work, creating a culture of people dedicated to achieving positive outcomes. Given how fast technology is moving, this engagement is crucial. AI is still maturing, and the concepts and technologies that were emerging last quarter may already be irrelevant.

Operating with Clarity

Teams that possess all of the above qualities still can’t be effective unless they can operate with clarity. Clarity allows them to develop new ideas, move with agency, and understand what constitutes a positive outcome. This happens within companies that provide clear definitions of success and operate with a mission command leadership style.

Takeaways

It probably isn’t a bold statement to say that good teams will likely excel at integrating AI into their processes. The real takeaway is that a more effective strategy would be to improve your team culture first, enabling them to be more effective overall. Adding good AI tools to a dysfunctional team culture won’t yield the outcomes you might expect.

I write this also to offer a bit of hope in a time when moving to AI for everything feels inevitable. Good teams and good leadership will probably never go out of style.