A research-based tool developed at NHH helps organizations and businesses create effective and well-functioning teams. The method was developed by Therese Egeland and Vidar Schei.
Research shows that the startup phase of new teams is critical for future collaboration. Unclear goals, differing expectations, and poor communication can lead to misunderstandings and reduced efficiency.
Professors Therese Egeland and Vidar Schei at the Department of Strategy and Management have been at the forefront of research in this field. For more than ten years, they have studied teams, psychological contracts, and psychological safety in teams (see reference list).
As early as 2015, Egeland and Schei highlighted how structured team charters contribute to better collaboration and increased efficiency. The paper Cut me some slack: The psychological contracts as a foundation for understanding team charters shows that clarifying expectations early in a team's formation leads to improved performance. Another key element of this article is how mutual understanding reduces conflicts and enhances team dynamics.
Further, the paper Start Smart: Effektiv oppstart av team (2019) provides a scientific context for how businesses and society can improve teamwork. The paper emphasizes that teams, often assembled on short notice, benefit from structured startup processes to build trust and collaboration strategies. It demonstrates how using a research-based tool—such as Start Smart, introduced in 2022—leads to better goal achievement in project teams.
Their study contributes to the understanding of why establishing a solid, research-based foundation for team development tools is essential.
Research in this field led them in a new direction and gained momentum when Harald Engesæth from AFF contacted Egeland and Schei about developing the tool. Together with AFF, a consultancy firm associated with NHH, Egeland and Schei developed and tested the tool through internal processes at the University of Bergen.
In the fall of 2022, they launched Start Smart. By then, 150 different teams had already participated in testing. Today, Start Smart is a licensed methodology. Anyone interested can download the tool for free, and it is also available in English.
So far, the tool has had nearly 70,000 page views and over 25,000 downloads.
Start Smart was developed through research and collaboration with practice, demonstrating societal benefits. The method helps businesses, organizations, industries, and the public sector develop strong, effective, and inclusive teams by structuring discussions around ambitions, goals, strengths, weaknesses, and personal user manuals.
Hundreds of companies have already adopted Start Smart.
The tool is used by large corporations such as DNB, Gjensidige, Kongsberg Gruppen, Sparebanken Vest, and Odfjell Drilling, as well as smaller companies like the consultancy firm Matae and Edrupt, an exam preparation company.
In the public sector, organizations such as Norges Bank, Oslo University Hospital, the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Norwegian Tax Administration, and the Municipality of Bergen have implemented Start Smart.
Ole Kristian Andersen, Head of Performance Development at Gjensidige, highlights the fact that Egeland and Schei have made Start Smart available on NHH's website, describing it as a "gift to everyone interested in teamwork, collaboration, and team development."
"From the first moment I used it in our customer service center, I was impressed by how quickly we got to the core of what needs to be addressed in the early phase of a new team." The tool has gained significant attention in Gjensidige Privat and is now the preferred tool when starting new teams in the customer service department. Recently, they initiated 16 teams using Start Smart.
"We have become more efficient because we have established good team dynamics more quickly in newly formed teams."
According to HR Director Katrine Brosvik Thorsen at the University of Bergen, the methodology has significantly improved the establishment and development of groups:
"The clear clarification of goals and working methods, combined with a personal approach, provides groups with excellent conditions for success."
The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries has also successfully used the tool in leadership groups and teams:
"An essential component in the work on psychological safety and leadership team development."
Summary of Feedback from Companies Using Start Smart:
