Building a High Performance Team

“You are as good as your team” is an old adage that most of the corporate managers have heard or said themselves at various occasions. How many of them really believe in this, and actually devote meaningful time towards developing and empowering the team can be a topic of debate. I have come across many such business leaders who believe that their individual charisma and intelligence is enough to deliver results and can cover for the lack of capabilities in the team. Such managers always learn it in a very hard way that collective stupidity always outshines the individual brilliance in the long run. In today’s ever-changing business environment, the key differentiation for an organization is its human capital, innovation and the readiness of the team to adapt to new technologies and environment. This can be only possible if the philosophy of building a high performance team is actually practiced in true sense.

I have put together few points that I always expected from my managers when I started off as a young rookie, and have been following ever since I took up people management role. I am not sure whether these are the panacea for all the problems, but following them has not done any harm to me as of now.

Put the right talent in the right place- A guy who loves crunching numbers, putting together excel formulas, charts and graphs to build financial models will always feel lost if he is given a task of writing lengthy reports and whitepapers. Similarly, there might me a person who is an introvert but very good at desk research and can churn out well articulated insightful reports. He expresses his creative side through writing, and all he needs from his manager is to provide him a conducive environment and assurance that in spite of his introvert nature he is a critical part of the team and master of his art. Sending this person on the field to bring in business will definitely be a disaster for him as well as the organization.

Define responsibilities and your expectations at the very beginning- Ironically most of us get to know our responsibilities and expected output only during the appraisal discussion, resulting in disappointment and a sense of despair. If you want your team to deliver results and navigate effectively, you need to provide them a very clear blueprint in the form of a well-defined role, responsibilities, and most importantly-what do you expect to achieve as a business leader so that they can align their efforts towards the broader goal. This is the area where you need to focus the most, and unfortunately this is where most of the manager falter.   

Remove the roadblock for the team- A high performing team needs a conducive environment to perform. A noisy and cramped workplace, frequently crashing laptops and uncomfortable chairs might seem to be minor issues, but it can really bring down the productivity as well as restrict creativity. Similarly, lack or no access to training facilities to upgrade skill-sets can also be a hindrance in the path of team’s productivity. Also, don’t forget that a manager who tend to micro-manage and does not delegates can be the biggest roadblock for the team.       

Give room for genuine creative mistakes- Creativity is the biggest differentiator in today’s business environment. If you start penalizing people for getting things done in a different way or shoot down any idea that does not fits into the conventional way of doing things, you will never be able to build a team that looks at a business problem in a different way and come up with creative ways to tackle them. Encourage lateral thinking in your team by listening to ideas that your team might bring to you. As a manager give them a sense of comfort that you are not going to crucify them for a genuine mistake made while trying to do things in a different way. Most of the people restrict their creative juice because they fear that any mistakes made during the process of doing things in a different way will not go down with their managers and might impact their employment.

Let them manage themselves- `Once you have assigned a task, conveyed the deadline and communicated the milestone dates for review, do not pester them with continuous follow-ups. Let them manage their timelines and deliverable themselves, and you be available for the milestone reviews. Many managers impose their approach of doing a task on the team assuming that they are helping the team to manage their work. The fact is that they are discouraging creativity and a sense of ownership among the team. Managers need to understand that people can manage themselves if we let them do so. In most of the cases the team can manage themselves quiet well, it’s the manager who needs to manage himself.   

Make sure that the work is not done only to receive accolades- There will always be some tasks that will never come to the eyes of senior management, but it needs to be done for the smooth delivery of the overall assignment. For example, the research team might need some data from the transaction team for one of their market insight report that is slated to be released at a grand industry event. If the members of the transaction team do not show interest to share the market data thinking that the limelight will be shared by the research team and they will not get accolades for their contribution might sabotage the opportunity for the company to get noticed at a major industry platform. Building a culture where the team is driven by the motive of giving their best at work and helping other teams to achieve their goals without expecting any reward or accolades in return is the ultimate test for a leader.

Be the troubleshooter- No matter how efficient and self-dependent team might be, they need their leader to guide them through sticky situations and provide solutions. If they hit a deadlock while working on any assignment, the team should have the confidence that their leader will have a solution and will roll up his sleeves to work along with them to get the work done. These are the situations where a manager can add the maximum value to his team, and earn their respect and confidence.

Invest your emotions & trust- Emotions are the greatest motivators and a binding factor when it comes to people management. There is no harm in showing your vulnerable side while tackling tough day to day business challenges, and letting them know that how much as a leader you are dependent on them for delivering spectacular results. There is no harm in talking a post lunch walk even with the junior most member of the team and having a casual chat about his progress, his family and his opinion on some ongoing important assignments. As a manger it is very important that you trust your team. Having said that you should also make it very clear that any breach of trust will be non- negotiable, and is the most important pillar of your team’s foundation.  I have seen managers who consciously maintain a distance from their team in order to maintain the so called authority.  By doing so they are just alienating people who are most important for the success of organization, as well theirs.

With the increasing number of millennials in today’s workforce, the managers need to recognize the importance of the softer aspects of the team management. They no longer can expect their designation or the numbers of years spent in the industry to earn the respect of their team, rather, the value addition that you do will keep you relevant in the eyes of your team. The role of a leader should be that of a football coach who himself might not be as brilliant as the players in the team, but he still manages to inspire and coach these talented individuals to perform as a cohesive unit and help them deliver their best.