How to build a high performing team
The word ‘team’ is more than a label. Too often we see a collective of individuals in a workplace grouped together and labelled a ‘team’, yet their effort and results show no characteristics of what a team is, or should be - let alone reflecting that of a high performing team.
Unfortunately, teams can be dysfunctional, unmotivated and underperforming.
If this situation sounds familiar, all is not lost. Turn mediocrity into excellence and underperforming into outstanding with these four evidence-based techniques to build a high performing team.
In this articles, we’ll cover:
What makes a high performing team
How to build a high performing team
High performing team characteristics
High performance teams examples
What makes a high performing team?
High-performing teams are driven by a united purpose. A strategy to find that purpose is to establish and understand the common values of the team and the team members.
Goals and results are much easier to set and obtain when we know our values.
At Candour Coaching, we’re in a unique situation in that we get to see the inner workings of a wide range of businesses. And while most companies can tell you their values. The first thing that stands out, especially for underperforming teams, is just how hardwired (or not, as the case may be) their values are.
On one end of the scale, employers and employees absolutely live and breathe their company values.
On the other end, company values are nothing more than a dust-collecting document that was done as part of a box-ticking exercise.
Company values are important as a ‘north star’ for the broader business, but when it comes to turning around underperforming or mediocre teams, what’s needed is something more specific.
A key place to start to build a high-performing team is by highlighting the intersection of the company’s values, the team’s values, and the team member’s personal values.
Take a team of 8-10 colleagues, for example. Everyone’s values will be different i.e. how they manage projects, nurture stakeholder relationships and interact with colleagues. Though, there is always some commonality.
“To build an effective, high-performing team, devise a list of team values that every member can unite behind. ”
This can be done as part of a collaborative team exercise.
First, ask everyone to list their personal values i.e. what values do they aspire to emulate in their everyday lives?
Next, have everyone highlight the values that they:
Need to fulfill their individual role;
Want to emulate in their careers;
Have seen in successful colleagues’
Need to perform as a team; and
Need to reach their team/company goals.
Finally, share these values as a group, discuss them candidly and agree on the most important values you want to unite behind as a team.
Involving your team helps to build buy-in and allows for a sense of belonging through team accountability - only the team knows why the values are important.
2. How to build a high performing team
A key benefit of having your team discuss their individual values is that it helps define their individual role and their common purpose, which are natural motivators (and crucial to building a high-performing team).
Before we can pursue our goals, we need to know why we aim for them.
Uncovering team members’ individual values provides clarity to their internal desires and clearly links their day-to-day activities with the team’s goals and values.
This is known as ‘intrinsic motivation’.
If members are intrinsically motivated they find joy in the journey as well as the result, and so long as they are treated fairly, they will bear all manner of setbacks and situations to achieve the common purpose.
Historically, corporate teams have used the opposite form of motivation. They have been driven by the avoidance of pain and the seeking of pleasure.
This is known as ‘extrinsic motivation’. Commonly referred to as ‘carrot and stick’.
When we are extrinsically motivated, our motivation wavers relative to a range of factors, including:
The level of pain or reward;
The difficulty of task; and
The desire to act.
To build a high-performing team, we need to move our colleagues from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation as quickly as possible.
In other words, we need to find their individual purpose and clearly link it to their role in the team.
3. High performing team characteristics
While your company is likely to have a broad vision, mission and goals which everyone is working towards, high-performing teams have clear immediate tasks.
Making tasks more tangible boosts engagement and productivity by giving each team member and their team more attainable targets.
Although it’s not a new approach, when it comes to tangible tasks, SMART goals are best used. As a refresher, SMART goals are:
Specific: Make it clear and on specific subject matter.
Measurable: It needs to be something you know can be completed. A number, an event, something tangible.
Aligned: Is it aligned with your values and overall goal?
(You’ll find this particular part of the acronym differs from other versions. I advocate that all goals need to be aligned with the purpose of the person and the vision.)
Realistic: Is it realistic with your current resources?
Time related: Specifically, when will it be achieved by?
High-performing teams keep one another accountable to their SMART goals. They collaborate on creating them, they help pick apart any potential hurdles, and they encourage and trust one another to execute their role.
Unlike long-term goals that have a set and forget flavour, tangible tasks are about immediate execution - a key piece to any high-performing team.
4. High performance teams examples
Our level of success is not only determined by what we do, but also, the standard to which we do it.
No matter how united your team is, no matter how internally driven they are and no matter how tangible the next task, high-performance is about high standards.
Let’s take for example, Oprah Winfrey. It is said that she can film up to three shows before lunch on any given day.
Do you think she could do that if she allowed herself to be distracted by coffee breaks, social media or any number of other interruptions her assistant could provide?
Or what about Elon Musk, who is said to have implemented a few rules for his companies’ meetings.
That a meeting should have one clear subject matter.
If you aren’t adding value to the meeting or the meeting to you, you may leave.
If the subject matter could be stated in an email, don’t hold the meeting.
And then we have one of everyone’s favourite examples from the sporting world, the simple “Sweep The Sheds” statement from the New Zealand All-Blacks.
This is a reminder that no matter who you are on the team, whether world champions or not, everyone is expected to pick up the metaphorical (and literal) broom and sweep the change room floor.
Standards set, standards met.
Understandably, not all teams will meet such stringent high-standards, but to build a high-performing team, we can use a similar approach.
Start with having team members review or note down the actions they currently take to achieve their particular tangible tasks.
Is it sales calls, briefing in work, client meetings, stakeholder management?
Next, have team members provide suggestions that would improve the standard to which they perform their tasks.
Execute this in a collaborative-team environment, start with a simple 1% improvement and as the team starts to build enthusiasm seek to create improvements of 5-10%.
“An extreme example of this can be found in the Hollywood blockbuster The Pursuit of Happyness.”
In the movie, Will’s Smith’s character Chris Gardiner is one of 20 interns cold calling people to generate new business - the catch is the person with the most sales at the end of the internship gets the job.
To avoid wasting time so he can make more sales calls, Chris figured out he’d gain an extra 8 minutes a day if he didn’t physically hang up the phone between calls.
Whilst this type of behaviour is not expected, (I believe Chris also refrained from drinking water to save time on bathroom breaks!) if we are serious about turning mediocre teams into high-performing powerhouses we must raise the standard of behaviour, and the standard of execution.
Turning mediocrity into excellence
Labelling a group of co-workers a ‘team’ is not enough. To turn that mediocre team into a high-performing powerhouse they need the simple attributes common among all high-performing teams - higher standards, tangible tasks, intrinsic motivation, and a values-based united purpose.
Our specialist coaches perform as an extension of your team, and use researched, evidenced-based techniques to help create your own high-performing powerhouses.
Want to find out more?