A high performing team is one that brings together diverse and complementary strengths and experiences to deliver outstanding results far beyond what each individual team member could do alone.
Why do some teams thrive while others struggle? For a team to be high performing, there are a number of critical elements that need to be present including a high degree of ownership and accountability, clear goals, clear decision making mechanisms, a willingness to engage in healthy conflict and a clear understanding of the common purpose.
Why do some teams thrive while others struggle?
Building high performing teams is a skill that takes time and energy and when not done well, can cost the organization as well as individual team members in terms of job satisfaction,
engagement and performance.
As leaders, we owe it to our employees to ensure that they belong to a high performing team where they have clarity of their work, can see how that work is aligned to the greater
organizational strategy, and that they feel they are equipped and set up for success.
High performing teams are engaged, collaborate well together and consistently deliver results.
Here are three of the most common obstacles to building a high performing team:
- Vague Goals
Team Members must first understand their work and goals before they can commit to them. It is critical that employees see how their individual work aligns to the greater organizational strategy as well as how they complement the team. They must know that their work is valuable and critical to the overall result.
Takeaway:
✓ Clarify the team purpose for individual employees and the team to collaborate around
✓ Set specific, SMART goals to guide decision making and evaluate progress
✓ Define roles and responsibilities so employees see how they and their work complement the team. - Lack of Trust
Cohesive teams trust each other and create an atmosphere where each member feels safe to share information, raise concerns and hold each other accountable. Developing healthy relationships makes it easier to work together and overcome obstacles or conflict situations when they occur.
Takeaway:
✓ Establish ground rules with codes of conduct that let team members know what’s considered acceptable (and unacceptable) behaviour. These are more effective when team members have helped to create these principles themselves.
✓ Build social connections. Relationships are stronger where there is some level of personal connection beyond work. These do not necessarily have to be friendships, but respect and trust are deeper when team members have some level of personal connection with each other. Bringing employees together in this way is especially helpful where employees would otherwise have little natural contact beyond the work (e.g. a remote and/or dispersed team).
✓ Reward collaboration as opposed to individual contributions. Recognize shared successes vs individual agendas and provide incentives for collaboration. Encourage team members to recognize each other’s efforts. Peer to peer recognition is an effective enabler of building cross-team respect and engagement. - Ineffective Communication
Team members should have clear communication protocols that are well understood by all, as well as the right tools and training in place to be able to effectively communicate with each other.
Takeaway:
✓ Ensure feedback exchange mechanisms are in place for team members to provide each other with honest and tactful observations about how to enhance individual and team performance, and to be able to resolve disagreements before they escalate into serious conflicts.
✓ Make effective use of technology to ensure your teams can take advantage of collaboration tools and diverse communication platforms to ensure an inclusive environment that takes into account diverse working styles.