This is the third part of a three-part blog series on high-performing teams. The first article was about how to turn your team into the team that everyone wants to work for. The second article went into detail about five of the ten characteristics of high-performing teams.
High Performing Teams (HPT) are the teams everyone wants to work for. They get so much done, and have a lot of fun doing so.
Many of us want to see our teams as already being HPT’s, but if we are honest, we can see where our teams fall short and then develop strategies to help them get there.
As previously mentioned, in the last post we discussed the first five characteristics:
- Open & Clear Communication
- Defined Roles & Responsibilities
- Mutual Trust
- Effective Decision-Making
- Coordinative Relationships
In this post, we will discuss the last five:
- Clear Goals
- Participative Leadership
- Managing Conflict
- Value Diversity
- Positive Atmosphere
Clear Goals
Is your team clear on what their goals are? What percentage of their time is spent actually fulfilling those goals? If that percentage is below 80%, what needs to be deleted, delegated, diminished, or delayed so that the team can stay focused?
Also, are the goals set up in a S.M.A.R.T. format? If the goals are not tangible and clear, there will be debate as to whether or not they were achieved.
Finally, please be sure to activate each team member’s core values in order for them to fully commit to those goals.
Participative Leadership
When watching HPT’s in action, it is often hard to tell who the leader is. Members of HPT’s tend to push each other to bring out the best in each other and give ideas as to how the goals should be achieved. Often times teams vote on the course that should be taken and then all members of the team align to achieve it.
Managing Conflict
HPT’s resolve conflicts quickly and efficiently. They don't allow for resentment to build between team members. Other team members smell tension and they will encourage the tensions to be resolved.
Usually team members attack the ideas while affirming the team member who suggested the idea but sometimes egos can get frayed and conflict occurs.
Conflict is dealt with directly and honestly. They do everything they can to attack the problem and not each other.
Value Diversity
The best teams that I have seen have a good, balanced mix of Myers-Briggs types. As such, they cover each other's blind spots really well.
They also have people on the team of different backgrounds and levels of experience. This diversity assures that the best options are executed.
Diversity is a major reason why high-performing teams are very effective decision-makers.
Positive Atmosphere
High-performing team members contribute everything they can to maintaining a positive atmosphere. Typically they become really good at energizing team members, communicating transparently, and staying flexible while generating options to lock on the solution. These teams know that they are going to succeed and that belief contributes to the positive atmosphere.
How does your team measure against these 10 characteristics? Where do you want to start to advance these characteristics across your team? Do you want to strengthen a strength or contain a weakness?
If you have the right team members, your team can become an HPT.
Chew On This: What does your team need most to become a high-performing team?
Ryan Bailey is a Leadership Coach who advances excellence across leaders and their teams.