The Art and Science of Building High Performance Teams

So much has been written about teams (of people not Microsoft’s product) that it boggles the mind. Study after study on teams and teamwork has produced an enormous body of data on what makes the best team. Most of the advice – 8 characteristics of high performing teams; 11 awesome ways to build a high performing team; 10 attributes of high-performing teams – makes building a high performing team sound easy – believe me it’s not, and many more fail than succeed.?

One fact, however, emerges from all the data, studies, interviews, and opinions, and that is – drum roll – high performing?teams prove that?team effort?outperforms individual effort in almost any and every case.??High performing teams also make better decisions and quicker decisions, solve more complex problems, do more to enhance creativity and build skills than an individual can. And those facts?alone can increase productivity, staff retention, morale and profits.??In my forty years running several companies who had to operate in a team environment, I saw the best and worst of team behavior.

I’ve heard executives who influence or outright hire team members say things like “I only want??-- college grads”?or “five years of experience – no more no less” or “nothing but multitaskers” or “people just like me”-- I could go on and on and on.?However, the savvy hiring managers/executives/owners know that there is no magic formula for who are the?best team members other than the fact that the team needs diversity of thought, experience, skills – those qualities that make the team able to anticipate, discern and solve a problem, change a course of action or develop a better strategy.?High performing team members have high levels of emotional intelligence which means they?know themselves (self awareness), they manage conflict in a way that allows team members to move on after conflict, they can accept criticism and not be paralyzed by it emotionally.?The behaviors of a high performing team include making a point of getting along with teammates and being interested in them; praising teammates; supporting teammates who are struggling or have a personal issue; giving constructive feedback in a way that no one takes it personally and demonstrating empathy for the difficulties that come with the pressures of wanting the team and company to be successful.?

There are many reasons why high performing teams, given similar goals to other teams,?hit it out of the ballpark.?It all starts with setting expectations before the team even has a goal. Do they understand team dynamics, do they understand what it takes to be or become a high performing team, do they want to be or become a high performing team, do they understand each other. Education about the importance of teams, the characteristics and attributes, things that derail a team – all can be part of team meetings. Since there are so many good stats, examples, stories about teams online, in books, podcasts, etc. learning about teams should be part of an ongoing education process so that teammates can get a deep and broad understanding of what it takes to get to high performance. Also there are many excellent personality assessments that help teammates understand one another better.?These can help members grow closer as a team and improve how they work together. Assessments can also help individual members become more self-aware. I have witnessed that the discussions that emanate out of the results of these assessments can be a lot of fun and contribute to a positive environment.

What derails a team has to do with unclear goals, conflict that interferes with collaboration, excessive stress in times of uncertainty and change, groupthink where teammates use conformity to avoid conflict,?and failure to inculcate new team members successfully. Poor team dynamics can cause chaos, hostility, aggressiveness, disrespectfulness, rudeness, and a host of other negative behaviors that then lead to loss of productivity, turnover, and a toxic culture which can affect the entire company.

Although we most often talk about the potential of individuals in our companies, teams have potential as well that need education, positive reinforcement and the ability to create their own success as they contribute to the success?of their company.?Whether the team is the entire staff of a small company or specialized teams within larger companies,?it is critical to unlock the power and potential of your teams to support a happier and healthier work culture.

Valerie Freeman is the CEO of a group of specialized staffing, recruiting, outsourcing, consulting, and managed service companies based in Dallas, Texas. These companies operate under the brands, Freeman Leonard, BravoTECH and ANSERteam.

Freeman+Leonard specializes in filling marketing and creative positions and is an outsourcer of marketing/creative projects; BravoTECH specializes in information technology placement and services and ANSERTeam works with manufacturing, distribution, industrial and food service companies on staffing and services.?You can reach her at [email protected]