Building a high performing team is not just pulling together a bunch of talented people. High-performing teams are individuals with expertise in different fields, are goals oriented and like-minded.
The team has clear goals and has common priorities:
High performing teams are focused on and support the shared vision. Goals should not only be aligned but also each team member knows what they need to know and how to get there.
The job and specialization should fit the goals of the organization. If the member understands how the job fits into the context of the overall mission of the organization, then they are more engaged and productive.
They minimize unnecessary conflict by defining each individual’s roles and responsibilities. This prevents confusion as to who is going to lead which project and departments. Each employee is going to have a different opinion. Keeping this in mind, the team should be able to achieve coordination and have clarity in their responsibilities.
The team has to have clear channels of communication. All communication must be done healthily. Miscommunication can lead to conflicts and breach of trust, which will hurt the working of the organization.
These are only some characteristics; different types of organizations are going to have different types of teams. You cannot expect to have all this build overnight. There is always room to grow and improve from yesterday.
Now that we have discussed the characteristics, here is the importance of a high performing team:
High-performing teams are independent, as they do not need spoon-feeding from others. They are more engaged and satisfied with their job. The team either has little or no conflict.
A team, which shares the same purpose, is easier to manage. A team that understands each other and the goals of the organization are more productive.
High-performing teams are more motivated and happy as they are around people who are like-minded and share the same vision.
Research has shown that organizations that focus on team building and training leaders and, creating effective teams reap significant rewards of return on investment. The team constantly pursues superior performance through shared goals, shared leadership, and open communication. They constructively handle conflict as they ensure that they take in the views of everyone.
High performing teams usually make higher quality decisions and accomplish much more in a lesser time.
Nurturing a feedback culture is a good way to make positive changes in the team.
Developing work ethics and respectful communication is important.
Providing both monetary and non-monetary incentives to the team will boost their motivation to have a positive impact on productivity.
Empowering the team members by giving them some autonomy in decision-making.
Some common barriers to building a high-performance team are infrequent communication, lack of mutual trust, inability to manage conflict, lack of goal clarity, relationship issues, poorly defined roles and, a negative atmosphere.