HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS: CHARACTERISTICS, TRAINING, EXAMPLES - JOB - 2024

The high performance teams are defined as a group of people with specific roles, skills and talents complementary, aligned and committed to a common purpose, which consistently show high levels of collaboration and innovation, producing remarkable results.

High-performing teams are seen as tight-knit, focused on their goal, and have supportive processes that will allow any team member to overcome any barriers to achieving team goals.

Within the high performance team, people are highly trained and can switch roles. Furthermore, leadership within the team does not rest with a single individual. Instead, various team members take the leadership role as needed at the time.

High performing teams have robust methods for resolving conflict efficiently so that conflict does not become an obstacle to achieving team goals.

Within a high performance team you feel intense energy and clear focus. Collectively, the team has its own conscience, indicating shared norms and values ​​within the team.

The team feels a strong sense of responsibility to achieve its goals. Team members show high levels of mutual trust with each other.

High performing teams are the foundation of a strong organization, and developing those teams is an endeavor that requires strong will and consistent discipline.

characteristics

Meaningful purpose

In high-performing teams, commitment to the team's goal should be at least as important as commitment to the goal of the area each member leads.

There is a clear and compelling reason to work together. The leader should be the glue that coordinates the activities, and the main concern of everyone on the team is their assigned area of ​​responsibility.

Alignment

High-performance teams are fully aligned with multiple variables that interact in a stable way.

When everyone is aligned around a shared vision and centered values, the team will grow from the inside out. Lining up around your core is essential.

Shared goals

The high-performing team needs to focus on a set of results that all members are committed to achieving and that requires everyone's contribution.

If it is truly a team goal, everyone will feel equally responsible for its achievement. These goals are not necessarily the same as those of the company.

Examples that would require a high-performing team effort could be: Launching a new service, improving the customer experience, and increasing employee engagement.

Synergy creation

High-performing team members have the complementary skills, experiences, and styles that are necessary to fulfill the necessary roles and responsibilities.

People know the strengths, weaknesses, preferences and dislikes of others, and use this knowledge to create synergy. Members notice the value of each person's presence on the team. In this way, there is a feeling of equality between all.

Strong interpersonal relationships

People can be themselves because they are genuinely appreciated and will do what they can to care for and support their teammates.

Members trust each other and are trustworthy as well. Team cohesion is obvious to people outside the group. It is all for one and one for all.

Useful operating principles

These are agreed ways to work together. They can be a shared set of values, decision-making processes, ways of communicating within the team and towards other employees, tracking activities, and many others. The principles are explicit and everyone lives by them.

Problem resolution

The team recognizes when a problem exists, analyzes it, identifies alternatives and resolves it in the midst of conflicts. Once a decision is made, everyone agrees to support it.

This is often best demonstrated by the willingness of someone to raise a thorny issue first and by the willingness of members to participate fully in finding a solution to the problem.

High levels of openness

People say what they need to say in a direct and respectful way. Therefore, members are receptive to difficult messages without becoming defensive.

Heated discussions are not viewed as a problem, but rather as a positive activity, as long as the discussion focuses on topics or behaviors, rather than talking about each other.

Joint responsibility

Members hold themselves and others accountable for the commitments they have made. Although the leader has the primary responsibility for committing his team to keeping promises, each person shares this same activity.

They feel inspired

High-performance teams are more in charge of pulling than pushing. Thus, leaders know how to create energy and enthusiasm in the high performance team.

Team members feel inspired, they feel that they are on a mission and that what they are doing is of great importance.

They resolve conflicts and promote cooperation

Conflicts can divide teams and leaders must work to help quickly resolve differences and promote cooperation.

In high-performance teams, differences are addressed quickly and directly. This requires a level of maturity in the team members.

How they are formed

Size

A classic mistake in team building is including too many members. Teams with more than nine people often experience coordination problems, increased tension, and reduced productivity.

This may be the result of some people not getting the desired prominence and others simply switching to passive mode, as "someone else is in charge."

Therefore, research suggests that high-performance teams include up to 7-8 members, an ideal size for managing different points of view.

Invisible diversity

Most companies have started to pay more and more attention to diversity and inclusion. While visible diversity is key (gender, age, ethnicity, etc.), you run the risk of overlooking the importance of invisible diversity on teams.

Members 'life stories and personality differences must be taken into account, as they are an intrinsic part of the employees' identity. The most innovative ideas are generally proposed in teams characterized by diversity of thought.

Complementarity

While the experience of a job candidate is very important, many managers underestimate the importance of this person's complementarity with their teammates.

What is your personality? How aware are they? How good are they at talking and resolving conflicts with others? Therefore, you must hire the attitude and train the skill.

Contracting between peers

A key ingredient in building high-performing teams is engaging potential colleagues of candidates during the recruiting stage.

First, you are giving your team the opportunity to express or withdraw support for a candidate, and you are increasing the likelihood that they will help this person succeed later.

But beyond checking chemistry, the likelihood that new talent will be attracted to the job is also increasing: Potential colleagues are better at "selling" the job, as they are perceived as more honest and authentic.

Examples of high performance teams

Starbucks

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz creatively and convincingly emulates his company's history through his books.

The Starbucks company has an active internal communications department, as do most of the larger brands. Here is a comment written on a blog about corporate image:

“I managed the internal communications team at Starbucks for four years - our main role was building the internal brand.

I can assure you that the philosophy that drove Starbucks growth is that great brands are built from the inside out, beginning and ending with employees.

And that very small budget was invested in external marketing, including advertising. I've been away for almost a decade, but the stores I visit regularly still have that passion for the brand. Lewis Green.

Nike

How powerful a company would be if your team had reason to be proud of its reputation. What would your corporate pride be like if the company advertised internally more than it advertised externally. Here's what Nike's Internal Communication Team is responsible for:

- Inspire employees through innovation and motivation.

- Inform employees of Nike's strategic priorities and drive business results.

- Participate in Nike business: listen, learn, be inclusive.

- Educate and empower managers.

- Excite employees about brand initiatives, build momentum.

Follow the signs for Nike and Starbuck. Viewing your culture as a profit center or as Southwest puts it: "Our people are our greatest individual strength and our longest-lasting competitive advantage." Telling the story of the company and its people is critical to success.

References

1. Tom Laforce (2018). 9 Characteristics of an Effective Executive Team. Taken from: tomlaforce.com.
2. Joseph Folkman (2016). 5 Ways To Build A High-Performance Team. Taken from: forbes.com.
3. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2018). High-performance teams. Taken from: en.wikipedia.org.
4. Ina Toegel (2017). How to create a high performance team. Taken from: imd.org.
5. The Center for Organizational Design (2015). Developing High-Performing Teams. Taken from: centerod.com.
6. Chris Warner (2018). Do you Lead a High Performance Team? Taken from: chrisbwarner.com.