It’s fundamental human nature to form teams. After all, it didn’t take long for troglodytes to realize the benefits of teamwork. It became evident that a lone human out on the prairie was likely to be killed and eaten by predators. Still, a group of humans could organize so that what was originally a predator could become the prey of humans.
This is the synergistic effect of teamwork.[1] What is impossible to accomplish alone becomes possible with the coordinated efforts of a team.
In its simplest form, a team can be defined as “a group of people coming together, all working towards a common goal.” But that’s just the basics. Using that definition, ANY group of people can be considered a team. Smart business people know how to assemble high-performing teams that can give them an edge over the competition.
A poorly managed or low-performing team can create many more problems than they solve. On the other hand, when executed correctly, high-performing teams are the best single assets any business can have:
- Promoting a sense of commitment – High-performing teams promote a deep understanding of commitment and loyalty to the team’s goals and the organization.
- Better results – High-performing teams usually produce better results than a standard team, regardless of the metric used to evaluate development quality, making deadlines, schedules, etc.
- Having clearly defined roles – Individual team members will clearly understand the team’s goals and their roles within that framework.
- Promoting healthy competition – Having each team member understand precisely how their contribution contributes to the team’s success fosters a sense of obligation to coworkers that can enhance performance.
- Complementary skills – A high-performing team will consist of diverse members with varying expertise. This allows for constructive brainstorming sessions based on one another’s contributions.
- Building trust – Members of a high-performing team develop an interdependence on the other team members to complete the project. This interdependence is what builds trust within the group.
As a manager, your success or failure can be determined by your ability to create and manage a high-performing team. After all, in business, we are judged by the results we bring to the company.
If you can master the ability to form and maintain high-performing teams, you become a valuable asset to your company. Use these nine tips from top business leaders to develop a high-performing team:
1. Have Clear and Concise Goals
This needs to start at the top. Upper management needs to set and communicate the goals and values of the organization. This should be accomplished by developing vision and mission statements so that the organization’s overarching goals are concrete and clear to everyone.
Using the mission statement as a framework, the department heads can set clear goals for the teams within their divisions. In turn, managers can set goals for their teams using the framework passed down from the department heads.
This approach makes everyone aware of their individual and team goals and how those goals contribute to achieving the purposes set forth in the mission statement.
2. Make It Exclusive
Successful business leaders know that people will work harder and be happier if what they are working on is seen as exclusive or unique. Everyone likes to be a part of an elite group.
A good manager can create an air of exclusivity by using rigorous hiring standards as well as high-performance standards. That is coupled with a compensation package unique to the group (such as higher pay, performance bonuses, extra vacation, flex-time, telecommuting, etc.).
All of these things combine to create an exclusive atmosphere that encourages people to strive to gain entrance and maintain their position within the team.
3. Evaluate Skill Sets
This is an ongoing process. It would be best if you had a good idea of what skills are needed before forming a team. It would help if you began assembling your team when you were clear on the project’s required skill sets.
Once you have recruited the team members, don’t forget to continually monitor and evaluate their performance to ensure the standards and goals are met.
4. Pull, Don’t Push
As a team leader, you need to lead by example. Anyone can bark orders and make demands of employees, but if you are willing to lead the way, it shows an understanding of the project’s demands and legitimizes your role as leader.
This rule should also be followed when an individual team member isn’t meeting expectations. Your first order of business should be to determine why they aren’t performing up to the standard.
Is it an issue of not having the right resources to do the job? A communication problem within the group or a personal issue causing a distraction?
A good team leader will take the time to understand the problem and help facilitate a solution. Help your team tease out answers instead of just demanding results.
5. Promote Collaborative Decision Making
Abiding by this one rule upfront can save you grave headaches down the road.
Start by having regular team meetings to discuss both the overall progress of the team as well as the progress of the individual team members. When done right, these meetings will highlight potential problem areas that are likely to arise. Remember that every individual’s actions within the group can affect every other person’s performance, so identifying potential conflicts early is the goal.
By utilizing a collaborative decision making process, individuals within the group are more likely to be satisfied and take ownership of the solution than if the decision is imposed on them. This also contributes to the overall cohesiveness of the team.
Now, with that being said, there will always be occasions that it’s just not possible or practicable to make a collaborative decision. In those cases, the team leader must decide and move on.
6. Promote an “Open” Atmosphere
Nothing inhibits a team’s progress more than a “closed” environment. Every organization needs rules and guidelines to function, but they shouldn’t be so onerous as to stifle creativity.
Members of your high-performing team should feel safe in expressing themselves without criticism. This is especially true in meetings and brainstorming sessions. These are when wild ideas that are “outside the box” should be encouraged. This is how you can promote innovation.
7. Recognize High Performers
In any team or group situation, productivity can be measured, and a norm or average productivity level can be determined.
Half of the team will underperform the average, and half the group will outperform the average. When the highest 10%,20%, or 30% are publicly recognized, it encourages the rest to achieve more.
It’s also a great way to boost the team’s morale. And it’s been shown that high employee morale is positively correlated with productivity.
Recognition is a great way to reinforce cohesiveness within the group.
8. Avoid the “Zero-Sum Game” Trap
A zero-sum game is one in which, for someone to win, someone else has to lose. This is the opposite of what you are looking for in a high-performing team.
In a zero-sum game, individual successes are celebrated over the group’s success. This can quickly degenerate into group members hoarding resources, limiting communication, and sabotaging other team members.
Team cohesiveness falls apart at this point, as do the chances of producing a good outcome for the group. Avoid this potentially disastrous dynamic by focusing on cooperation instead of competition, team success instead of individual success, and always encourage open communication.
9. Have Trusted Leadership
High-performing teams must have trust in their leadership. This requirement is not an option if you are serious about creating an exceptional team. Without faith, a leader is hard-pressed to inspire others to follow.
Building and maintaining a team’s trust means that individuals within the group will follow direction willingly and without coercion and are much more likely to produce a good result. They are also much more likely to stretch their boundaries and go above and beyond the call of duty to achieve better results.
When you are trying to build trust within a group, there are three essential things to keep in mind:
First, people trust people that they like. Start by building a positive relationship with individuals on the team.
Secondly, we trust people with knowledge or expertise. This is especially true if that knowledge is used to help us solve problems. So use your expertise to help those within your team.
Finally, be someone your team members can count on. Stay true to your word. When you say you will do something, could you do it? Don’t make promises you can’t keep, and always be willing to go to bat for your team members.
Final Thoughts
As we have discussed above, there are many facets to developing and maintaining a high-performing team. And while the benefits of such a team are apparent, maintaining that performance level over that long haul is much more difficult.
As with any human endeavor, the changes that occur over time will inevitably erode performance. Complacency, job dissatisfaction, employee turnover, and even changes in upper management can all affect group dynamics and team performance.
Knowing these issues so you can deal with them early on is key to maintaining your team’s performance. It’s always better to anticipate and prepare for problems rather than react to them after they have occurred.
There is a considerable difference between being involved with a high-performance team versus an average or low-performing squad, not only in the quality of work produced but also in the job satisfaction of the team members.
Most of us have been involved in a dysfunctional team at least once in our careers. With a lot of us, it’s been several times. The sabotage, backstabbing, and toxicity involved in these groups perpetuate the problems they were meant to solve.
If you suspect a team has devolved to this point, the best thing to do is to dissolve it and start anew. Even with high-performing teams, the ability to maintain the same level of quality will diminish over time.
Technology changes, as does the competition, so don’t be afraid to readjust, reconfigure or even dissolve formally successful teams to deal with these changes.
And while business, technology, and staff all change over time, human nature does not. As long as human endeavors require teamwork, these nine secrets of high performing team will provide you the best chance at success.
