Rise and Shine
Qualities of a high performance team—Part II
Last week, we began discussing the qualities of a high performance team (HPT)- group of people that is highly focussed on their goals and achieves superior business results. We discussed five of the key qualities of a HPT: Participative Leadership, Effective Decision-Making, Open and Clear Communication, Valued Diversity and Mutual Trust. Today, we will discuss the next five of the 10 key qualities of a HPT.
- Managing conflicts: A HPT is focussed on goals and not on egos or personal interests. By default, therefore, the chance for occurrence of conflicts is already reduced. The environment around a HPT is such that members keep supporting each other. They all want to win. No-one is pulling others behind. They are united in general. Even when conflict does occur, it is quickly dealt with and conflicting members quickly settle the matters and revert to pushing the common goals of the team.
- Clear goals: The team has clear goals for the grouping. Everyone knows exactly what the team is chasing. They are all united around the common and ultimate vision of the team. When challenges come along the way, the team is bound together through the spirit of chasing common goals. Parameters might change along the way, methods may be altered and some members of the approach may evolve, however, the team keeps their focus around the common goals that they want to achieve. Having clear goals also helps the HPT to move with efficiency, effectiveness and speed because they focus all their energies on the goals before them.
- Defined roles and responsibilities: The HPT draws from the clear common goals the roles and responsibilities of each team member. This helps gain clarity on who does what? This way, everyone has the chance to be effective and efficient. Additionally, having clearly defined roles and responsibilities prevents most of the possible conflicts. Everyone keeps focus on his or her job-everyone keeps pushing his or her actions while getting the required support from the other members of the HPT. This means that not only are all the roles and responsibilities clearly defined but everyone knows exactly who does what. It is important that in a team, everyone knows what everyone else does.
- Coordinated relationships: Most teams fail to be effective and efficient because among other causes, everyone is working in silos. They lack coordination. They lack mutual support. But this is not the case in a HPT. Since roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and everyone knows what everyone else does, coordination is easier in a HPT than other typical teams. In fact, coordination happens at many levels, not just through the team leader. Team members are able to talk to each other directly. Team members consult each other where necessary. Team members support each other and those whose output is key input for work of others ensure that they feed the inputs in a timely manner so that the team moves at a fast-accelerated rate. This is what sets aside a high performance team from the rest of typical teams!
- Positive atmosphere: The difference between working in a positive atmosphere and other unwelcoming environments is very clear. Most of us have worked in different ‘climates’ and so the difference is clear from personal experiences. For a HPT, the environment is positive. You experience positive vibes from everyone in the team. Everybody is upbeat and everyone expects to win and that the team will triumph. Failure is not an option for this team and so everyone works hard so that the team wins at the end of the day. Everyone is supportive and helpful. No one walks alone. Nobody is isolated. Everyone feels for everyone else.
Over the last two weeks, we have described the key qualities of HPTs. Next time you join a team, demand that the team should subscribe to these attributes so that together you can do an outstanding job and together you can build an amazingly HTP! Good luck as you rise and shine through a high performance team! All the best!
