A high performance team is a team of goal-oriented professionals, experts in their respective fields that are responsible for planning, executing, and yielding outstanding results. Excellent performance in a team can only be achieved through powerful leadership, goals, clear communications, interpersonal conflict resolution, harmony, and trust among team members.
There are 5 main characteristics you can spot from a high-performance team. Firstly, there is a clear vision of where the team is heading and how they will get there. Secondly, the team consists of thought leaders and role models in business improvement. Thirdly, the team does not cover up problems. Instead, when there are problems occurring, the team immediately identifies it and solves the problem to prevent recurrence.
In addition, the team proactively works with other departments to improve all areas of the business, not just focusing on making life easier for themselves. Last but not least, members work hand-in-hand as a team to effectively deal with conflicts quickly.
With these traits in mind, there are 8 steps you can take to develop a high-performance team of your own.
8 Steps to Develop a High-Performance Team
1. Establish a Common Purpose
The company’s vision, mission and values need to be the basis of the department’s purpose and standards. This gives the team a roadmap on what the future looks like from a measurable point of view. This can be goals such as reducing turnover.
2. Measure Performance
More often than not, key performance indicators (KPIs) are used as a reporting tool to track actions that are a job requirement rather than a measure of improvement. Instead, meaningful KPIs should be set so that each worker can take responsibility for the process and not just for the requirements of the role.
3. The Greatest Huddle
“The greatest huddle” is a 10 minute gathering of the maintenance team at the start of the day that strengthens the bond of teammates and sets the team up for success in the next play. Just like any huddle in a sports team, this is essential in building the foundation of success in any maintenance team.
4. Create a System
Systems and frameworks are important to maintain the momentum of a highly engaged and motivated team. Consistency helps to deliver rapid, significant results for the team and the business.
5. Resolve Conflicts
Conflicts are common when there are more than one member operating in a team. While conflicts are inevitable, it is how conflict is handled that makes it a high-performance team. A collaborative approach is the most effective method to handle team conflicts. It makes room for both parties to speak out and resolve through mutual agreements. When conflicts are handled effectively and peacefully, it does not disrupt the performance and operation of the team.
6. Set Clear Roles and Responsibilities
It is crucial to assign fitting roles and responsibilities according to members’ expertise as this helps to set accountabilities. Organizational audits can be conducted to clearly define roles, task assignment and reporting. This helps the team to maintain transparency and perform better.
7. Identify Under-performing Team Member and Improve Them
All team members need to equally pull their weight to accomplish goals that are set. If there is an under-performing member, it might hurt the team dynamics and overall results. Hence, it is important to identify poor performance and fix it. One way would be to take employee’s issues into consideration and provide guidance or constructive feedback when needed.
8. Create Room for Innovation
A high-performance team has space to think and apply creative solutions to problems. That way, each member can experiment and learn new things. This helps to promote long-term success to teams, as members can collaborate to find innovative solutions to existing problems efficiently.
In conclusion, a high-performance team is made up of different individuals who are willing to come together and play their role while supporting each other in the team. It is no doubt that it requires dedication, hard work and a mindset of continuous improvement to achieve a high-performance team.
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