A team with a clear purpose that collaborates well drives business results. It paves the way for success by unlocking the potential value of individuals. Their job satisfaction increases, and in the end, everyone wins.
High performing teams do not just ‘happen.’ Such a team is built as a result of an honest and disciplined approach to developing each individual and finding ways to make everyone feel significant, valued and recognized.
When measuring the performance of a team, you have to look beyond measuring outcomes. Some teams will consistently meet their targets, but this does not mean they can be considered as a high-performance team. Here are 10 indicators of a high-performance team.
1. Leadership
A high-performance team is one where no individual team member is more valued than another. The team leader is able to empower and motivate each team member. He or she offers support and enables them to take action without trying to micro-managing them. The leadership of the team may even shift from time to time when appropriate.
2. Individual strengths
Great teams consist of talented individuals with diverse talents. Individual strengths, such as creativity, organizational skills, detail-orientation, or strategic thinking are identified and encouraged.
All team members understand their roles and what’s expected of them. When work needs to be distributed across the team, tasks are allocated to individuals who have the strengths to handle them best.
3. Overarching goals
An awareness of overarching goals allows everyone to pull together and contribute to meeting the objectives. A team functions more effectively when everyone is aligned around the same vision and understands his or her role in fulfilling it.
4. Collaboration
When team members use their unique skills and are able to work collaboratively together, success follows. No-one is threatened by the success of another, and everyone understands their individual goals as well as the combined goals. Each team member realizes the need to carry his or her own weight, so no-one carries the lion’s share of the responsibilities.
5. Trust
In a high-performance team, there’s a high level of trust between team members. They feel free to contribute their ideas and express their feelings. Distrust in a team results in issues and mistakes being covered up instead of spoken about honestly and openly. Team members never have to spend time worrying about whether others are going to complete tasks. They know they can rely on their colleagues to be as responsible and committed as they are.
6. Communication
Information is shared effectively throughout the work process in a helpful way, rather than only when requested or in response to a deadline. Team members are open to assist one another so they can help them when necessary.
Leaders are open to feedback and are able to react positively instead of defensively. Everyone has an opportunity to share, even the introverts on the team. Everyone ‘says it as it is’ instead of gossiping and talking behind other’s backs.
7. Empowerment
Team members are equipped with the resources and tools needed to carry out their roles. They have the freedom to act and implement certain decisions. This enables them to progress constantly without always having to wait for someone else to make every decision.
The team leader has just the necessary amount of supervision, so members feel free to act but don’t work outside of their capabilities. A consensus of all members is important when making decisions affecting the team.
8. Learning
The team learns and improves with every project it undertakes. Team members care about the development of other members. They use shared processes and interact in a way that facilitates learning and leads to the better performance of each individual. Members reflect on what they learn, apply it to their work and pass it on to others.
9. Conflict resolution
In weaker teams, conflict is often evident because members are inflexible when it comes to their point of view, making debate impossible. Effectively engaging in debate allows disagreements to surface and be resolved.
Tension and friction is diffused in a relaxed, informal manner. Disagreement is not seen as negative and constructive criticism is used to solve problems and remove obstacles.
10. Timely decisions
High-performance teams are able to make decisions speedily so that action can be taken. This can reduce the time it takes from having an idea to seeing a product on a shelf.
In high-performance mode team members actively encourage each other and look for ways to make an idea work. They do not work in silos to protect personal performance, and their collaborative efforts result in a reduction in the time it takes to achieve meaningful results.
Conclusion
You may be battling with teams that produce inconsistent results, can’t seem to collaborate, always have problems they can’t resolve and where employee turnover is high. When all team members feel valued and appreciated, they become more productive, work better with others and achieve greater results.
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