5 Ways To Build A High- Performance Team
Forbes / Leadership
APR
13, 2016 @ 10:20 PM 2,542 VIEWS
5
Ways To Build A High- Performance Team
Joseph Folkman ,
I’m a behavioral statistician
who covers evidence-based improvement
Have you ever been part of a great team at work? A team where you
loved to come to work every morning, a team that charged you up with energy,
and a team that encouraged you to accomplish goals you thought were impossible.
On this team you felt a great sense of belonging and believed that others had
your back in every situation. This team made work fun, exciting and an
adventure every day.
Have you
ever been on the team from hell? A team where there was constant conflict and
disagreement, a team where you were walking on egg shells and were afraid to
speak up or share honest feelings? People were afraid, kept their heads down
and were okay throwing you under the bus if it helped them in any way. Work was
painful, hard and exhausting but vacations were wonderful merely because you
escaped the team for two weeks.
When I
recently interviewed an individual on a team from hell, I asked how he made it
through the day. He replied, “Every day at lunch I buy a lottery ticket and put
it in my front pocket.” “Why the front pocket?” I asked. He replied, “If I am
in a meeting and I feel especially bad, I reach into my pocket and rub the
lottery ticket. It helps me make it through the day.”
As we
examine high-performance teams (and their opposites) we wondered what behaviors
do team leader’s exhibit that create these extraordinary teams? From our data
set of more than 66,000 respondents we asked team members to rate a series of
leadership behaviors and to also rate their satisfaction, engagement and
commitment. To understand specifically what led to high performance, we focused
on a measure that evaluated the extent to which the team environment was a
place where people would go the extra mile. We discovered strong, highly
significant correlations and selected the top 15 behaviors associated with
willingness to go the extra mile. We factor analyzed the results and discovered
five key dimensions that were essential to these high-performance teams.
(Zenger
Folkman)
In the graph above we
created an index from the five dimensions and then calculated the deciles. We
then calculated the percentage of employees in a team willing to go the extra
mile. Leaders who were rated lowest on these behaviors had
about 13% of team members who were highly committed. But team leaders who were
exceptional on these all five dimensions (those at the top 10%) had 71% of team
members who were highly committed. Some people look at this finding and ask why
the leaders at the top 10% didn’t have 100% of their team members highly
committed? Actually, 35% of those in the top 10% did have 100%
of their team highly committed but averaging that data over 6,000 people
underscores the reality that it is very difficult to have every team member
100% committed. But averaging 71% of team members highly committed would create
a positive at atmosphere in any team.
Dimensions That Deliver High
Performance
These
five factors describe the behaviors of leaders who had those high-performance
teams.
1. Team Leaders Inspire More
Than They Drive
High-performance
teams are more pull than push. Leaders in high-performance teams know how
to create energy and enthusiasm in the team. Team members feel inspired,
that they are on a mission and what they are doing is of great
importance.
2. Team Leaders Resolve
Conflicts And Increase Cooperation
Conflicts
can tear teams apart and leaders need to work to help resolve differences
quickly and promote cooperation. Often team leaders assume that mature people
will resolve conflict on their own. If that were true, however, there would be
no divorce, separations or wars. In high-performance teams differences are
addressed quickly and directly. This requires a level of maturity in team
members. When people believe that they are trusted and others have their back,
disputes can be resolved. Team leaders that focus on competition versus
cooperation never achieve outstanding results.
3. Team Leaders Set Stretch
Goals
Leaders
who know how to set stretch goals create an internal drive in the team to
accomplish the impossible. People don’t really want to come to work and do
something that any other team could accomplish; they want to do something
extraordinary. When they accomplish something that is extraordinary they
recognize that they personally are capable and competent. Doing something out
of the ordinary helps people recognize that they are exceptional and their
satisfaction with work, their engagement and pride all go up.
4. Team Leaders Communicate,
Communicate, Communicate The Vision And Direction
Be a
broken record and help team members to be focused on the vision.
High-performance team leaders stay on message, they constantly communicate and
keep people focused on the vision and mission to accomplish. It’s easy for
anyone to get distracted or miss a turn. Shiny objects are all around us and
sometimes team members get diverted from their mission. High-performance team
leaders keep people informed, up-to-date and on track.
5. Team Leaders Are Trusted
If a team
leader is not trusted, they can’t be inspiring or trusted to resolve conflicts,
get the team to embrace stretch goals or believe their communications. The lack
of trust slows down everything. We have found that there are three basic
pillars that build trust. The first pillar of trust is relationships. We trust
people that we like. We trust our friends and we distrust our enemies. Building
a positive relationship increases trust. The second pillar of trust is
knowledge or expertise. We trust people that have the right answer or can
provide insight. We trust people when they can help solve problems. Use your
knowledge and skills to help others solve a problem and it will increase trust.
The third pillar of trust is consistency. When you say you will do something
and you do it, people trust you. Being consistent and walking your talk makes
you a person that can be trusted.
Having
worked on both high-performance teams and teams from hell I know the difference
is huge. Life is not good when you are in the team from hell. That experience
can infect other parts of your life in a very negative way. Life is good on a
high-performance team, and we all deserve be a part of one.
