6 key characteristics of a high performance team

Have you ever wondered why some teams perform better than others? 

You can have a team of highly talented individuals, but unless they hold specific characteristics they will remain just that - talented individuals rather than a high performance team.

So what are the characteristics of a high performance team that set them apart from everyone else? 

In this article we’ll explain how high performing teams:

• Find the joy in their job

• Celebrate success while continuing to learn from their mistakes

• Build a sense of trust and safety

• Set both specific and common goals

• Hold clear roles and responsibilities

• Create channels for vulnerable communication

Find the joy in your job

At the end of the day, we’re human beings, not robots.  We want to enjoy our jobs and the company of those who we work alongside.

A common characteristic of a high performance team is joy and fun.

High-performing teams are often able to exude a level of joy and fun, even in tough times - be it working to a tight deadline, delivering a high-risk project or in the face of other challenges.

That’s not to say that these teams don’t get stressed, fatigued or even burnt out at times.

However, high-performing teams are able to better manage these situations by ‘keeping it light’ and finding joy in what they do.

Celebrate your success while continuing learning from your mistakes

Celebrating success helps recognise and validate individuals and teams, which drives a sense of self-worth and is a natural motivator.

A key characteristic of a high performance team is that they regularly celebrate success.

This is almost always in an established forum (such as stand ups or weekly team meetings) rather than in an ad-hoc manner.

Not only is celebrating success a natural motivator but it’s also an opportune way to instill a culture of ongoing learning by sharing information about what did and didn’t work.

Instilling trust and safety within a team

Mutual trust and a sense of safety are crucial characteristics of a high performance team.

These characteristics allow teams to move outside their comfort zone thereby creating an environment for individuals to do their best work without fear.

Inevitably, this leads to higher productivity, greater success and a deeper sense of job satisfaction. It also minimises the potential for negative activity within teams, such as undermining of peers, finger pointing or outright bullying.  

Goals, goals, goals!

Specific and common goals are essential characteristics to a high performance team.

We all need specific goals - that is clear immediate tasks that individuals and teams are working towards - as these help guide behaviour and maintain focus.

However, high-performance teams also need common goals so they understand how their work ladders up to the higher purpose of the organisation. For example, the team goals of an IT department and a sales department will be quite different.

However, they should both be working towards the same common goal of the organisation so they’re all heading in the same direction.

This common goal needs to be relevant for both teams so they understand how their work contributes to the success of the broader organisation.

Creating defined roles and responsibilities for team members

Ensuring team members have clearly defined roles and responsibilities helps optimise efficiencies within a team and reduces confusion and conflict.

High-performing teams know exactly what’s expected of them, what they need to deliver and how to reach their goals.

This information is set out for individuals and teams using defined roles and responsibilities.

Subsequently, this avoids work overlap or missed work (i.e. it clarifies who should be doing what) and reduces conflict arising from such errors.

Setting up systems for vulnerable communication

Today, electronic communication in the workplace has become the norm (think video conferencing, instant messaging programs, group messaging forums, and emails) particularly with the rise of remote working.

A critical characteristic of a high performance team is that team members are able to speak their mind openly, which can be harder to do on such impersonal platforms.

The more vulnerable teams feel, the better they’ll perform as they’re more likely to share new ideas, question the status quo and try new initiatives. Your system should ensure lines of communication are kept open and welcoming.

Embedding the right characteristics

What’s great about these characteristics is they can be taught and embedded, meaning regardless of where a team sits on the performance scale, there’s opportunity to build a team of high performance.

Our specialist coaches perform as an extension of your team, and use researched, evidenced-based techniques to help create your own high performance team.

Want to find out more?