What is The Five Behaviors® model?
The Five Behaviors® model is a team development framework that strengthens performance by focusing on five essentials: trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. Rather than targeting individual skills in isolation, it helps teams build the behaviours and working rhythms that turn collaboration into consistent execution.
Inspired by Patrick Lencioni’s work on team dysfunctions, it provides a practical, shared approach teams can apply in real day-to-day work.
A team effectiveness approach (not just individual training)
Trust
Build psychological safety so people communicate openly and work effectively together.
Conflict
Encourage healthy, productive debate that leads to better decisions—not personal friction.
Commitment
Create clarity and buy-in so teams align quickly and move forward together.
Accountability
trengthen ownership and follow-through by holding each other to clear standards.
Results
Keep focus on shared outcomes so the team delivers what matters most.
What makes it different?
The Five Behaviors® goes beyond individual development by giving teams a shared language and practical behaviours they can use immediately.
It helps teams strengthen how they work together—so meetings are more productive, decisions are clearer, and commitments translate into action.
The result is better alignment, stronger ownership, and improved performance over time.
The Foundation
The model is inspired by Patrick Lencioni’s work on the “Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” translating those ideas into a practical development experience. It focuses on the behaviours teams can learn and practise—starting with trust and building toward results.
- Create psychological safety and openness
- Disagree well and decide faster
- Commit clearly and follow through
- Hold each other accountable—without blame
- Stay focused on shared outcomes
Authorised partner since 2017 • UK-wide delivery (London-based)
Virtual / in-person / blended • Certified facilitators • Follow-up and aftercare
Who It's For
The Five Behaviors® works well for intact teams, leadership cohorts, and organisations looking to improve collaboration at scale.
HR / People teams
Ideal for organisations building a consistent approach to team effectiveness—across functions, locations, and leadership levels.
Leaders / Managers
Supports managers to diagnose what’s holding a team back and build the behaviours that improve execution and accountability.
Intact teams
Best for teams who work together day-to-day and want to improve trust, communication, and performance in real work situations.
Business Impact
When teams improve how they work together, the benefits show up quickly—in clarity, momentum, and results.
Engagement & Retention
Build psychological safety and stronger relationships, helping people feel heard, valued, and more committed to the team.
Execution & Accountability
Reduce rework and “silent misalignment” by improving decision clarity, follow-through, and shared ownership.
Performance & results
Help teams prioritise what matters, collaborate more effectively, and deliver outcomes with fewer delays and friction.
Choose the Right Five Behaviors Solution for Your Team
Personal Development — 5BPD
Build a Culture of Teamwork
For individuals who want to understand themselves and others better — so they can contribute effectively
on any team, in any role.
- Learn practical behaviours for stronger teamwork
- Support culture change through a shared language
- Develop people at every level of the organisation
Best for: Anyone
Group size: Up to 30
Team requirement: No intact team needed
Team Development — 5BTD
Develop a Cohesive Intact Team
For intact teams who want to build trust, address friction, and strengthen how they
work together — day to day.
- Build the skills intact teams need to collaborate
- Improve productivity and follow?through
- Surface and tackle common team dysfunctions early
Best for: Intact teams
Group size: 5-12
Team requirement: Min. 6 weeks working together
Personal Development — 5BPD
What is 5BPD?
5BPD (Self-Development: Personal) is an individual learning experience that helps people understand how their behaviours affect teamwork.
Using assessment insights and guided learning, participants build self-awareness and practise practical behaviours that strengthen trust, communication, and collaboration. It’s ideal as a first step before team-based development—or as a way to build consistent teamwork behaviours across a wider group.
5BPD “How it works”
Step 1
Assessment Insight
Participants receive personalised insights that highlight strengths, blind spots, and patterns that impact teamwork.
Step 2
Guided Learning
Structured content builds understanding of the five behaviours and what each one looks like at work.
Step 3
Practical Application
Learners apply techniques immediately—improving how they communicate, collaborate, and contribute in their teams.
Delivered in the UK and globally via onsite, virtual, or blended programmes.
5BPD Typical Outcomes
- Greater self-awareness and confidence in how you show up in a team
- Practical strategies to build trust and reduce friction
- Improved communication and contribution to team outcomes
Team Development — 5BTD
What is 5BTD?
5BTD (Self-Development: Team) is a team-based programme designed to improve how an intact team works together.
It creates a shared understanding of the behaviours that drive performance—then helps the team practise those behaviours in the context of real goals, challenges, and ways of working. The focus is on building trust, engaging in productive conflict, and creating clear commitments that translate into accountability and results.
5BTD “How it works”
Step 1
Build trust
Create the conditions for honest conversations, faster problem solving, and healthier working relationships.
Step 2
Productive conflict
Teams learn how to challenge ideas constructively, surface risks early, and make clearer decisions with buy-in.
Step 3
Accountability
Agree priorities, define ownership, and establish ways to hold each other accountable—so progress is visible and outcomes improve.
Delivered in the UK and globally via onsite, virtual, or blended programmes.
5BTD Learner Takeaways
- Stronger alignment on priorities and “how we work” agreements
- Clearer ownership and follow-through
- Better collaboration under pressure—and improved results
Delivery Options
Virtual
Interactive facilitation delivered online, designed to keep participation high and translate learning into real team habits.
In-person
Ideal for deeper connection and faster trust-building—particularly for intact teams or leadership groups.
Blended
Combine workshops with digital learning and follow-up sessions to reinforce behaviour change over time.
Delivered across the UK and internationally.
For Facilitators: Build Internal Capability
The Five Behaviors® Certification
Build long-term capability by certifying your own people to deliver The Five Behaviors® programme in-house. Our certification pathway equips internal facilitators with the knowledge, confidence and practical tools to run engaging sessions, debrief assessments and guide teams through the behaviours that underpin cohesion: Trust, Healthy Conflict, Commitment, Accountability and Results.
It’s ideal for L&D, HR and leaders who want a consistent approach across multiple teams—without relying on external delivery every time. We’ll help you tailor rollout plans, facilitator practice, and reinforcement routines so the learning turns into everyday habits. The outcome is a scalable, sustainable way to strengthen teams and embed a common language for performance.
Ready to build internal capability? Get certified in The Five Behaviors®.
The Five Behaviors® Facilitation Kit
The Five Behaviors® Personal Development and Team Development solutions are available together in one facilitation kit for the first time ever.
This new combined kit is designed to support interactive, instructor-led training in a virtual or physical classroom.
The included exercises, videos, and handouts mean you don’t have to create everything on your own. But if you do want to add content or an activity for your unique group, templates are provided to help you make it all look seamlessly integrated.
New and updated videos January 2025: Five Behaviors Introduction video, DiSC Model video, Patrick Lencioni videos, and 10 “Right Way” and “Wrong Way” behavior videos updated with new cast and modernized scenarios.
For use with Five Behaviors Team Development and Five Behaviors Personal Development profiles (sold separately).
Earn Professional Development Credits
Wiley is recognized by ATD, SHRM*, HRCI**, and ICF for offering Professional Development Credits (PDCs) upon certification completion.
*Wiley is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDC) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.
**This program has been pre-approved for 20 credit hours (HR General) towards aPHR® aPHiR®, PHR® PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR® PHRi, and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute (HRCI®).
Platform Access
EPIC Admin - Assessment Management
EPIC (Electronic Profile Information Center) is Wiley’s administrator portal for delivering Everything DiSC® and The Five Behaviors® assessments.
It gives you a secure, do?it?yourself way to assign profiles, manage groups, and store all individual and group reports in one private account—ideal when you’re coordinating assessments at scale.
EPIC is recommended for ongoing use, large cohorts, or when you want to control when participants receive their reports (for example, releasing profiles during a workshop). It also makes it easy to access completed reports without chasing people by email, and to keep everything organised for future reference.
EPIC helps you:
- Assign and manage assessments efficiently for individuals and groups
- Organise reports by team, date, department, or programme using folders
- View, print, or email reports anytime (including Group & Comparison Reports)
- Control who can access and review completed reports
Questions & Answers
Is this for intact teams only
The Five Behaviors works best with intact teams (people who work together regularly and share goals, priorities, and outcomes). That said, it can also be effective for leadership cohorts, cross?functional groups, and project teams—as long as participants will continue working together and have opportunities to apply the behaviours in real situations.
Next step: Book a discovery call
How long does a typical programme take?
Most organisations run The Five Behaviors as a phased programme rather than a single event. A common format is:
- Kick?off workshop (half?day or full day)
- Follow?up sessions to reinforce behaviours and review progress
- Optional leader/manager reinforcement to embed habits
Overall, programmes typically run 4–12 weeks, depending on depth, team schedules, and whether you include follow-ups.
Next step: Book a discovery call
Can we run it across multiple locations?
Yes. We can deliver the programme across multiple sites or regions using a consistent structure while adapting examples and facilitation to each audience. Many clients choose a blended approach (virtual sessions for consistency + in?person workshops for key moments) to keep quality high and logistics manageable.
Next step: Book a discovery call
What’s the difference between SBPD and SBTD?
These refer to the two Five Behaviors assessment experiences:
- SBPD (Self?Based / Personal Development) focuses on individual insights—how each person contributes to trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. It’s ideal for building self?awareness and giving each participant practical ways to improve their own behaviour on the team.
- SBTD (Team?Based / Team Development) focuses on the team’s collective profile—how the group is functioning across the five behaviours. It’s ideal for intact teams who want to improve how they work together and agree clear actions as a unit.
If you’re working with an intact team and want measurable team progress, SBTD is usually the better fit. If you’re starting with a broader cohort or want a lighter entry point, SBPD can be a strong first step.
Next step: Book a discovery call
Do you offer certification?
Yes—depending on what you need, we can support facilitator enablement/certification so you can deliver and sustain the approach internally. The best option depends on who will facilitate (HR/L&D, internal trainers, leaders) and whether you want internal delivery, co?facilitation, or full external facilitation.
Next step: Book a discovery call
Virtual vs in-person—what do you recommend?
Both can work well—choose based on your goals and team realities:
- In-person is best when you want deeper connection, faster trust-building, and richer discussion (especially for sensitive topics like trust and conflict).
- Virtual is great for multi?location teams, tight schedules, and shorter reinforcement sessions.
- Blended is often ideal: an in?person kick?off (or key workshop) plus virtual follow?ups to sustain progress over time.
Next step: Book a discovery call
Ready to improve team performance?
Book a short discovery call or request a demo.
We’ll recommend the best starting point based on your audience and outcomes.