Sparking Exceptional Performance Consistently Across The Organization

The 7 elements of a high-performance team

Sporadic performance not only puts targets at risk but is downright frustrating. Why can’t some teams consistently reach high performance, and why is it often challenging to achieve high performance reliably across the organization?

It’s not for lack of trying on the part of team leaders. Some implement a variety of leadership techniques, looking for one that will do the trick. Others put all their focus on individual performance. And many organizations adopt leadership competencies and leadership models that help drive a consistent approach to leadership across the organization. What’s often lacking in organizations, however, is a consistent definition of what a high-performance team looks like.
 

Leaders and teams usually have ideas as to what could be better in their teams; few, however, have specific knowledge of what is required for high-performance teamwork. Therefore, even when a team is consciously trying to improve, critical aspects that may be blocking team performance can be overlooked, which results in the team spinning its wheels and focusing on areas that won’t address the root cause of the problem.

What are the practices that differentiate high-performance teams from the rest? This question has guided our research and work with teams for over 30 years, and what we have found is that teams that achieve exceptional results with relative ease consistently demonstrate seven core practices. Once these practices are demonstrated across the organization, the result is organization-wide performance improvement.

These seven practices are not onerous or complicated, but the leader and team must commit to ensuring each becomes part of their team’s fabric. Sharing and discussing these practices with teams build understanding and focus each team’s attention and actions on the areas that will bring the greatest return.

The simplest definition of cohesiveness is team members pulling in the same direction toward a common goal. But in order for this to be achieved, members must have a clear and common definition of what constitutes success as well as agreement on values, roles and priorities. When a team lacks cohesion, there is wheel spinning, poor decision-making, and wasted time, energy and resources.

A team demonstrates change compatibility when they are not only receptive to change but are able to implement change and adapt their behaviors and practices as required to allow it to take. Change-compatible teams respond productively to change, regardless of whether they agree with the change.

When leadership is shared, team members know they are fully valued. When shared leadership is strong, members are empowered to solve problems and manage their own areas of responsibility, the leader keeps team members informed and involves them in decision-making, each team member’s input is valued, and members see it as their responsibility to put forward ideas or concerns.

This speaks to a team’s ability to work effectively in a meeting, which is essential to team performance. If the best decisions are not made or if true consensus is not achieved, a team cannot function at its best. Group work skills refer to the ability to effectively facilitate and participate in meetings, problem-solving, decision-making and reaching consensus as a group.

A healthy climate refers to how team members feel about the way the team functions, including their level of comfort with team norms of behavior. Sometimes considered to be a “soft” issue, climate is actually the foundation of a healthy, high-performing team. Signs that indicate a team’s climate is unhealthy include a high degree of unproductive conflict, a lack of trust in and respect for one another, low energy, and low morale.

High performance requires that team members actively search for new and better ways of doing things. When a team demonstrates strong innovative thinking, members listen openly to ideas with which they may not initially agree. They challenge one another’s thinking and make an effort to question the way things have always been done. Innovative teams are on alert for better ways of doing things and challenge the status quo when old norms hinder their progress.

When team members fully contribute, they actively participate in the team, share their learning and ideas, and ask questions to move the team forward. When team members’ contribution is strong, team members take initiative and responsibility for their individual performance as well as the team’s performance.

Adopting these seven elements as team development metrics focuses on leadership practice and ultimately results in teams consistently reaching a higher performance bar. Ideally, the seven elements become the foundation of a performance enhancement system, which would include inviting teams to self-assess their behaviors and practices within each of the elements, identifying and celebrating strengths, and coming to agreement on growth opportunities and the behaviors and practices the team will embrace in order to strengthen the weaker elements. By involving members productively in the development process instead of trying to find and wield a solution on their own, leaders will find this process can be a much more energizing, time-efficient and rewarding one.

It is simple but true that superior performance is achieved when people have the skills and knowledge to do the job well plus the energy and desire to apply those attributes to the best of their ability. But the truest things in life are often the simplest, and the solution doesn’t have to be complicated. What is required is that the solution be embraced with consistency.

Nicole Bendaly is the President of K&Co. For over 20 years, Bendaly has been researching and training healthcare teams to weed out apathy and amplify the best in themselves. As a published author, dynamic speaker, creator of the Team Fitness Tool and president of K&Co., she has established herself as a respected thought leader in team development and organizational behavior. Connect Nicole Bendaly Follow @nicolebendaly