Since the beginning of time, we’ve had an obsession with “teams.” We’ve gone to extreme efforts to distinguish “teams” in comparison to “groups” and other labels that are half-effective and designed to assist us all in focusing on the ultimate working structure. Teams are superior to individuals, this is the gist we’ve been taught, but it’s not true. Understanding “teams” as opposed to “groups” isn’t as valuable for your business as knowing the difference between “high performance” groups from “not so great” teams. Although we can see specific differences in the key characteristics of each high-performing team, however, studies have revealed some common traits. Highly performing teams:
It was reaching for goals that were challenging.
This is the foundation of the “group” and “team” trash. The two terms are interchangeable. The key is the same regardless of which name you pick. Do you have a clearly defined and convincing shared objective (or goals) that is being pursued? It must be clearly stated in a precise language that is understood consistently by all the members and is significant enough to transcend the individual objectives.
Make sure you know that size is crucial.
The majority of teams are too big. The team has too many on the team due to political issues, overly optimistic belief in the necessity for a certain kind of expertise, etc. Listen closely. It’s much easier to add new members to a group than to take members out of a team. Start small and expand as you need to, but never insist on a plan to start with 20 people in the team when just five people are able to do the task.
Effectively build bridges
If you decide to follow my suggestion regarding the size of your team, building bridges is crucial. Even if we have five members to the team rather than 20 doesn’t mean that we won’t require assistance from those who were not selected. Being able to connect with individuals and groups that are not actively involved with your work is an essential skill and proves that teams with high performance aren’t just experts in the task area and are usually skilled on the soft-skills side as well.
Utilize individual time
Although a well-constructed team can be a fantastic thing, it’s still important to be able to draw attention to individuals first and then the team. This means that a significant portion of the time spent on projects is given to people (or, at the minimum, subgroups) working on their own clearly defined assignments, not being in long formal meetings with each person on the team. Meetings and tools that are virtual are becoming more efficient and less costly with each passing day. There’s no reason why you should not have the top teams holding “all hands on the table” meetings more often than two times each month.
Flexible filling of roles
The majority of discussions about teams focus on the crucial roles that must be fulfilled if you want to seek to attain high performance. It’s not the most exciting viewpoint. The roles are well-known. There is a need for a leader, an analyzer of processes, a referee or. A few articles or books, along with a little Googling, will provide you with a small list of essential role-playing roles for teams. It’s not just about filling those specific roles. It’s about the different roles each team member has to fill. The average team is fortunate to have every role fulfilled by just one person. Team members who are high performers usually fill in 2-3 critical positions. There is no one-trick pony.
Display a rapid, honest, and constructive communication
The best teams don’t run from conflict, and yet they aren’t prone to conflict. But how do they manage this? The reason is that they are, by nature and by the agreed-upon working norms, genuinely open to debate as well as vigorous discussions and questions. Thoughts aren’t “shot off.” They are positively discussed. The motive isn’t always personal, and it’s more objective. They are able to communicate instantly whenever something has to be communicated. They do not “beat around the topic,” and they don’t simply rip away plans or ideas and offer concrete new possibilities. In these situations, conflict could be a possibility, but it’s significantly less likely. If conflicts do arise, it tends to be resolved very quickly.
Are empowered to make decisions
The most powerful team that has ever been assembled can fail or, at the very least, come close to failing than they need to be if not granted the authority to act. One of the essential advantages of teams that are highly productive is that they can decrease or eliminate the need for a person to take on the traditional role of leader over the team. If half or more of the team members are capable of sharing their leadership roles with other members of the team and it is clear that the conventional “boss” does not have to be present to direct the team. The team is empowered to perform the tasks that it is the “boss” was able to do, such as hiring, budgeting and evaluations, and so on.
Share accountability
Many organizations depend on what I call”a “performance control system” to boost productivity (incidentally that the majority of these performance management systems aren’t very effective and only moderately efficient – but that’s a different article). Highly productive teams do not fulfill the requirement for traditional employee evaluations or similar tools that are designed to assist employees in achieving the goal of achieving it. Team members who are highly performing tend to be focused on achievement and acutely conscious of the interdependence of their jobs. Therefore, they are not afraid to raise concerns or seek help from others in their performance or seek out help in the event that they face challenging obstacles.
Pay attention to the process and the content.
It’s not just about the tasks that have to be accomplished to achieve our objectives. The tasks are only a tiny portion of the things you need to think about. The other is the procedure. A variety of standard team processes comprise the support of team members as well as feedback procedures controlling the critical path of work and the associated timeframes as well as the process of managing knowledge and the process of communicating advancements within the chain of control and so on. To be clear about the process, take a look at the classic example of problem-solving. Without a reasonable “process” observer, It is usually it is the situation that groups invest excessively of their time exploring the possibilities instead of narrowing their choices, deciding on one option, and planning their execution.
Make sure you are aware of your risks.
Simply put, great teams are not created by following safe pathways that are incremental. But, an astonishingly high level of performance isn’t caused by reckless risk-taking. Teams that are successful do their homework and gather the information and then consult with experts, and then make the leap, a well-educated and well-informed leap in the name of innovation and growth. Do not think that I am saying that all risks are worth it. The key is that teams with high performance tend to be more willing to accept necessary risks and are more likely to perform efficiently. A great punch line is The better you execute, the better you execute, the less risk.
Have a good review of the list and think about which ones bring you back to your group or teams within your company. If you are able to relate to less than half of these traits, You need to take action to help build teamwork abilities; if you’re constantly getting seven or more, congratulations! You’re among the very few that merit the label “high-performance team.”
