Whether you are leading a small team or a large organization, the importance of having a high-performing team cannot be understated. A high-performing team is one that is cohesive and works well together to achieve common goals. There are many benefits to having a high-performing team, including increased productivity, creativity, and morale. Leading a high-performing team requires dedication and effort, but the rewards are well worth it.
7 Ways To Build a High-Performing Team
But developing a high-performing team takes more than simply assembling a bunch of skilled and talented individuals. It demands the intentional cultivation of essential characteristics, behaviours, and best practices. Let's examine the seven essential characteristics of developing and leading a high-performing team, as well as how to foster them inside your firm.
1. Be a High-Performing Leader
You must become a high-performing leader in order to establish and direct a high-performing team. Effective leaders are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. They are very self-aware and emotionally and intellectually capable. High-performing leaders have the rare ability to both articulate a broad plan and goal and comprehend the specifics of its execution.
A high-performing leader is an excellent listener, capable of posing potent questions and dedicated to bringing out the best in his team and members. Creating responsibility and delegating effectively are key qualities for a high-performing leader. A highly effective leader has the courage to be vulnerable in order to develop trust and strengthen connections.
2. Diversity Is The Key To Growth
Without diversity, a lot of companies will come to a standstill. In fact, the more diverse a company is, the more likely it will scale greater heights as a team. A study conducted by McKinsey found that top companies will garner at least 35% of financial returns when they possess ethnic and racial diversity. Interestingly, elite companies with gender diversity will have 15% or more returns compared to their peers.
Diversity of thinking enables individuals to challenge the established quo and enables teams to reduce blind spots. David Rock, cofounder of the Neuroleadership Institute, and Heidi Grant, a social psychologist, write in the Harvard Business Review, "Working with people who are different from you may force your brain to overcome its outdated ways of thinking and improve its performance." If you want your team to be as inventive as possible, you should incorporate members with varied backgrounds and skill sets.
3. Set Clear Goals, Roles and Responsibilities
High-performing teams have well-defined objectives and are aware of their respective roles in accomplishing them. Not only are goals aligned, but they are also well defined so that everyone knows precisely what to do and how to get there. In general, a company's goals include quantitative (e.g., Growth by X%, Revenue/Profit, New Product Launches, etc.) and qualitative (e.g., Customer Satisfaction) (particular leadership traits and values, communication guidelines, etc.). In a perfect environment, these corporate-level, macro-goals would be split down into department-level, and micro-goals and monitored by frequent performance reviews.
Conflict and inefficiency can wreck a talented and productive team in a hurry. A leader of a high-performing team reduces needless friction by outlining each member's position and responsibilities precisely. This minimises uncertainty regarding project ownership, maintains the organisation of workflows and deadlines, and assures accountability across the board.
4. Set Clear Vision and Mission
In a 2016 LinkedIn poll, 64.7% of job searchers claimed that not knowing a company's vision, values, or purpose, or disagreeing with them, is a deal-breaker when evaluating a future employer. 52% of professionals, according to the report, want to work for a firm whose mission and vision align with their own.
These results indicate that you must have a crystal-clear mission that you communicate regularly to your team members from the minute they are employed. Post your goal statement on your website, reaffirm it on your social media accounts, and recognise employees who reflect your organization's beliefs.
Teams function best when their efforts have a bigger impact on the "greater good" than on their own objectives. They are also more likely to remain with your organisation and become top performers.
5. Establish Productive Infrastructure and Automate Routine Tasks
Establishing a consistent reporting cadence is one of the keys to having a high-performance workforce (weekly or monthly). This should be accomplished in an easily shareable way that includes highlights (major accomplishments, wins, and progress towards goals) and lowlights (big challenges, corrective actions, owners, and due dates). This will allow you to compare your present development to your long-term objectives and hold you and your team accountable.
Establishing an effective infrastructure coincides with another crucial factor: the significance of automating repetitive tasks. We devote 28 per cent of every workday to reading and replying to emails. This is a considerable amount of time we could devote to other, more mission-critical work. Payroll, lead tracking, email marketing, and social media administration are examples of repetitive and mundane processes that may and should be automated. By leveraging on a few proven productivity apps and resources, you can have even more time carrying out other vital tasks.
6. Promote Personal and Professional Development
In a recent poll conducted by TalentLMS, 91 per cent of organisations and 81 per cent of employees reported that upskilling and reskilling training increased work productivity. In contrast, eighty per cent of employees think such training increased their confidence.
Provide staff with growth opportunities and incentives for attending conferences and enrolling in specialised training programmes. If you want to recruit (and retain) future innovators, you must invest in learning opportunities for your staff. Millennials and Gen Zers want employers to provide opportunities for skill development on the job. Create a learning culture, and you will reap the benefits.
7. Empower Team Members With Decision-Making Decisions
To supercharge your team and make them as effective as possible, you must give team members the authority to make the decisions necessary to achieve their objectives.
Additionally, decision-making authority fosters an employee's sense of responsibility and accountability. According to Casey Anderson in Small Business Chronicle, "When employees are participating in decision-making, they develop a professional and personal interest in the organization's success as a whole. Employees that actively participate in various elements of the organisation and aspire to see their efforts succeed are more productive."
Conclusion
High-performing teams consist of individuals with specialised experience and complementary talents who are goal-oriented and laser-focused on generating crystal-clear, exceptional outcomes. With the proper approach to performance management, you will enable them to cooperate, develop, and generate work of the best quality.
Creating a high-performing team is not a sprint, but a marathon. But the payback will be worthwhile if you pull together the correct mix of skills and expertise and cultivate these key qualities of a high-performing team. High-performing teams are comprised of highly competent people that feel supported by their managers and share a common mission to create team and business success.
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