Thriving, not surviving. More advice for leaders on how to create a high-performing team.

The pride that comes from being part of a high-performing team is definitely something we all dream of, but actually creating it is difficult. There's no scientific formula or chemical equation: we need to build it step-by-step.

A comment on my social channels recently from Sandra in Hong Kong said that she thinks teams can fail from the start, based on three criteria: poor leadership, unclear scope and unclear roles and responsibilities. Clarity over roles, alignment of goals and honest conversations are required if leaders want their teams to thrive.

Establishing a team contract

In our interview with Professor Tammy Erickson, from the London Business School, she highlights the need for teams to shape their own culture, rules and responsibilities.

She explains, “One of the most important things to consider is the formation of a trust-based relationship with your colleagues… take the initiative as an individual to get to know the people on your team and ask yourself whether you've got the kind of relationship with them where they feel safe and you're going to share ideas freely. Research into teams that work well has shown that one of the strongest correlates is actually equal talking time. When your team gets together, pay attention to how the dialogue goes in terms of the amount of time each member speaks. If you are in a situation where one person is talking all the time and very few other people are, you're not in a very effective team. One of the things that I do when I work with the master's degree students at London Business School is to encourage them to make a formal team contract at the beginning of their time together.”

This kind of formal contract might include rules about equal talking time, decision-making, expectations and even penalties for those who let the team down. Erickson highlights the need for a team to be “self-managing” and “forthright” before an issue arises. If a team can establish its foundational principles collectively, they will be better equipped to deal with future pressure and avoid psychological instability. Teams should aim to be inclusive, innovative and challenging, but also safe spaces where people can work with honesty and courage.

Aligning teams with strategy

How can we ensure that our team is aligned with an overarching strategy?

This can be viewed as a three-stage process:

1. ROLE CLARITY AND ACCEPTANCE

Make sure that we've briefed each of the individuals of what's expected, what good looks like, the remit that we're giving them and how we expect them to go about their business. This should be a one-to-one conversation where we aren’t just telling our team members our plan, but forming a performance partnership. The team members need to understand the strategic intent and have the opportunity to ask questions about the relationship between their individual aims and the strategy. We are aiming for role clarity but we're also looking to engage them in shaping the role in order to boost their ownership and accountability.

2. INTERDEPENDENCE

Aim to establish the connections between the team to avoid leading a group of brilliant individuals operating solo. The interdependence of the group is necessary in order to avoid duplication and gaps. Each member of the team must be very clear on the individual roles of other team members – e.g. their remit, their sales targets and accountability measures. In this way, team members are able to challenge each other but also, know who can support them when necessary. Great teams have a sixth sense for each other's competence and confidence so that they know when to trust them and when to step in and help.

3. ALIGNMENT

Once commitment and interdependence is established, we make sure that all of these roles, individual and small working group, are aligned to the strategic goals set for the business or sports team. It might be a style of play, a particular mindset or statistical targets. Regardless, all roles - the team’s and the individual team members - need to be consciously aligned with the strategy. Can the individuals in your team see how their striving contributes to the overall goal? The clearer this is, the better.

Making the team play together

One of the best explanations of how a diverse team of talented individuals can come together to form a high-performing team comes in our interview with Dominic Alldis, one of the best orchestral conductors in the world.

He explains the different roles in the orchestra and how they are able to come together to produce a beautiful sound: “There's the role of the trumpet for example… doesn't play very often, but when it plays, everyone hears it. Their skill set is around being absolutely present even when they're not playing. So that when that moment comes to play, they can produce a fantastically clear note with confidence. Contrast that, for example, with the double bass, which is an accompaniment instrument. It's about support, reliability, consistency. It's an instrument which is there to give security to others. That's a different role, a different skill, to a violin, for example. There may be 20 or 30 in a section, and it's about being able to synchronise and blend what you do with the other musicians so that it sounds with one voice. The intensity and concentration needed to play so many notes and carry the theme is a different role again.”

This is a vivid and useful analogy for the business world. Consider your team: are you playing a serene symphony or is yours a dysfunctional dirge where everyone’s competing for the spotlight? Are you the silent conductor, optimising performance or are you making more noise than everyone in your team put together?

We might have a sheet of paper with roles and accountabilities written on it, but we also need the cohesion of a team working or playing together. We absolutely need that ruthless clinical mechanical side of getting the job done, but the trust, interdependence and understanding of the strengths in each other’s roles is a really critical discussion for any team. Without the psychological safety to be authentic and express your concerns or ideas, the team will never generate the mutual understanding and human bond it needs to truly excel in adversity.

Balancing the team and the individual

Each individual in a team has their own role and targets that need to be balanced with the team’s performance as a whole. High-performing teams celebrate the contribution and success of others, knowing that one day it will be their turn in the spotlight. Kate Richardson-Walsh, former captain of the gold-medal-winning GB Hockey team, thinks the best teams “are well-rounded” even though the media tends to prefer to celebrate the individual hero, typically the goal scorer.

Whilst Richardson-Walsh admires that high skill level, she describes herself as “a grafter…I can do the basics best I can” and identifies her ability to be “consistent” as a key strength. As a team, they celebrated the whole team, even if it was someone who kept “the game ticking over” that might not be picked up by the cameras: “we would celebrate that in the squad because you need it all. You can’t have one without the other and that was discussed often in the team.”

As leaders, we need to recognise and praise those individuals who have helped us to deliver high performance in the last phase of play, but we also need to think about how we're going to praise and recognise those individuals who have been as selfless and essential as the star goal scorer.

Listen back to discover more

Simply click the link below to get access to the podcast —Inside The Mind of Champions, episode 5: Creating a High Performing Team - Stage 2

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References & Citations

[1] https://twitter.com/sportingedgecom

[2] https://www.sportingedge.com/podcasts/episode-05.html

[3] www.sportingedge.com