A Point of Reflection: Key Ingredients for a High Performing Team

High performance isn’t an accident. Cohesive, collaborative high performing teams don’t just happen overnight. From my experience, high performing teams are the result of the deliberate application of a few key principles even in an undoubtedly complex environment. What I have found is that irrespective of whether you work together in an office or remotely, in a regional or global environment, performance excellence is typically achieved by using the same few ingredients:

1.      Clarity of objectives & structure

I am still surprised how often this simple factor is overlooked; it is sometimes added to the mix as an afterthought or even omitted. In some cases, there is no strategic plan for the business. A leader’s effectiveness is directly dependent on being able to communicate the strategic goals of the business. A work hero of mine (Ed) has always stressed the need to “write it down.” I encourage you to write down your strategic plan in a simple format that makes it easy to communicate. Once strategic plans are written down, target goals and key performance indicators become much more clear to the organization. We know what isn’t measured, doesn’t get done.  Clarity of objectives is the first key ingredient to creating a high performing team and ensuring comprehension, commitment, and alignment.

2.      Trust

Stephen Covey wrote a fantastic book, “The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything.” In the book, Covey argues that trust is a pragmatic, economic and actionable asset that can be created. High trust is a great “accelerator,” increasing speed and decreasing costs. He uses a simple mathematical formula to show the importance of trust throughout the book. Teams and organizations that operate with high trust and respect significantly outperform teams and organizations with low trust. This has been proven in dozens of studies and across various industries. Covey states, and I strongly agree, that the ability to create trust is the critical leadership competency needed today because it makes you better at everything else you need to do as a leader. High trust is a multiplier.    

3.      Communicate, and then communicate more

Research done at MIT showed that the patterns of communication in a team can explain 30-40% of the variation in team performance. The study identified two key factors: (1) the greater the level of communication, the better; and (2) the more evenly spread the communication, the better too.  What I have learned is the patterns of communication that you develop are arguably more important than what you communicate, especially in today’s extraordinary times. Along these lines, it is important to maintain discipline in operating cadence, but it is also important to offer open doors (even virtually) with less formal communication and a switched-on video.

4.      Make the time for reflection & intentionality

I operate under the principle that there’s always time (another Ed-ism). High performing teams always make the time for reflection to consider what has or has not worked (start, stop and keep doing) and whether they have adhered to their own rules. Regular team reflection has been found to significantly improve effectiveness and innovation, two of the most desired qualities of high performing teams. In addition to reflection, in my experience, successful teams have always made time for intentionality in thought and action. These teams know that more often than not the smallest things may have the greatest impact.

5.      Have fun

Knowing when and how to have fun (even doing the HAKA) is the last key ingredient for high performing teams.  Various studies that have concluded that happier employees feel more satisfied. Enthusiastic employees are all-around better at their jobs. Having fun, even at work, has been linked to increased engagement and motivation, improved productivity, higher job satisfaction … all resulting in top tier performance. For me, laughter and fun go hand-in-hand – unfortunately they are too often lacking in the workplace.

Despite my belief that these five items are key ingredients to a high performing team, there is nothing stronger than selfless and humble leadership to bring an organization together. I have been very blessed to have worked with strong leaders in my career that have demonstrated that despite difficult circumstances, high performance requires attention to the tone at the top. We know too that the success of a team is dependent not only on the actions of its leader but also on how he or she blends the five key ingredients together to deliver a high performing team.