Earlier I wrote about what the definition of a team is (here) as a first step in sharing my experiences in working in high performing teams.
I’ve worked together with peers, direct reports and leaders in various settings, ranging from project management and line management, from teams that operate together face-2-face or virtual, stretching from the United States to Japan. I learned that there are 3 factors that distinguish high performing teams.
Create and foster trust
The first factor is creating and fostering trust and appreciation within the team. In high performing teams, members are not afraid to ask for help. All opinions from all hierarchical levels are appreciated, because they are focused on adding value (not on office politics).
Mutual trust is best established when the team members know that the job cannot be done alone. When you know that you need each other for collective success, there is no other way than to rely on mutual trust. In one of the high performing teams I worked in, the members were already familiar with each other and knew the added value of each team member. This helped to enhance trust before we started.
After establishing it, trust needs to be further strengthened. The best way to do this is by creating a safe environment. That is an environment where everyone feels valued and allowed to speak his or her truth. What is the best way to create a safe environment as a leader? You create a safe environment by genuinely demonstrating vulnerability.
Please note that the keyword in the previous sentence is genuinely, because the quickest way to lose trust is by simulating vulnerability.
Only in a safe environment, where vulnerability is accepted, you can create and build trust.
Collective and crystal-clear results
The second element of a high performing team is the common understanding for collective objectives. The results have to be crystal clear from the start for the team, as well as for all stakeholders. The collective result needs to be the ultimate objective, which prevails everything and everyone. All individual goals have to be restrained so that everyone’s energy and time is focused on delivering the collective result.
Whilst the common objective prevails everything, I learned that it is key to remain open for changes during the pursuit of the objective. Change will inevitably happen. It can happen to the team composition or to the environment wherein the team is operating. This can even lead to changes in the common objective, so remain open and adjust course and results if needed.
High standards of accountability
The third factor of high performing teams is the level of accountability that they hold. Members in a high performing team hold themselves and each other accountable for the results that they are delivering.
A good way to enable accountability, is by making it transparent on what the team needs to achieve, and who needs to deliver what part of it. By making this transparent, everybody can be held against the same standards and no one can easily ignore them. No one wants to be the poorest performer on the team, so once you make it transparent, that person will feel the urge to improve.
In the high performing teams that I worked in, we used simple and pragmatic tools such as action & decision logs and regular progress reviews with everyone present. These tools helped to create and maintain a high level of accountability.
When you are able to implement these 3 factors in your team, I believe you will instill a high performing team.
Interested to learn more how I facilitate building high performing teams? Find more info here.
Photo by Natalie Pedigo on Unsplash
Earlier I wrote about what the definition of a team is (here) as a first step in sharing my experiences in working in high performing teams.
I’ve worked together with peers, direct reports and leaders in various settings, ranging from project management and line management, from teams that operate together face-2-face or virtual, stretching from the United States to Japan. I learned that there are 3 factors that distinguish high performing teams.
Create and foster trust
The first factor is creating and fostering trust and appreciation within the team. In high performing teams, members are not afraid to ask for help. All opinions from all hierarchical levels are appreciated, because they are focused on adding value (not on office politics).
Mutual trust is best established when the team members know that the job cannot be done alone. When you know that you need each other for collective success, there is no other way than to rely on mutual trust. In one of the high performing teams I worked in, the members were already familiar with each other and knew the added value of each team member. This helped to enhance trust before we started.
After establishing it, trust needs to be further strengthened. The best way to do this is by creating a safe environment. That is an environment where everyone feels valued and allowed to speak his or her truth. What is the best way to create a safe environment as a leader? You create a safe environment by genuinely demonstrating vulnerability.
Please note that the keyword in the previous sentence is genuinely, because the quickest way to lose trust is by simulating vulnerability.
Only in a safe environment, where vulnerability is accepted, you can create and build trust.
Collective and crystal-clear results
The second element of a high performing team is the common understanding for collective objectives. The results have to be crystal clear from the start for the team, as well as for all stakeholders. The collective result needs to be the ultimate objective, which prevails everything and everyone. All individual goals have to be restrained so that everyone’s energy and time is focused on delivering the collective result.
Whilst the common objective prevails everything, I learned that it is key to remain open for changes during the pursuit of the objective. Change will inevitably happen. It can happen to the team composition or to the environment wherein the team is operating. This can even lead to changes in the common objective, so remain open and adjust course and results if needed.
High standards of accountability
The third factor of high performing teams is the level of accountability that they hold. Members in a high performing team hold themselves and each other accountable for the results that they are delivering.
A good way to enable accountability, is by making it transparent on what the team needs to achieve, and who needs to deliver what part of it. By making this transparent, everybody can be held against the same standards and no one can easily ignore them. No one wants to be the poorest performer on the team, so once you make it transparent, that person will feel the urge to improve.
In the high performing teams that I worked in, we used simple and pragmatic tools such as action & decision logs and regular progress reviews with everyone present. These tools helped to create and maintain a high level of accountability.
When you are able to implement these 3 factors in your team, I believe you will instill a high performing team.
Interested to learn more how I facilitate building high performing teams? Find more info here.
Photo by Natalie Pedigo on Unsplash
