Essential Steps Involved in Building High-Performance Teams

High-Performance teams ensure the long-term success of an organization by delivering excellence in business outcomes through collaborative teamwork. Such teams rarely are formed naturally, rather they are formed and managed with certain strategic intent. Given below are some of the crucial steps involved in the formation of High-Performance teams:

Fostering Collaboration amongst the team members and making it a norm

Collaboration amongst the team members is essential for achieving superior results in the pursuit of business excellence. By facilitating collaborative communication, such teams can achieve synergies in business outcomes and contribute towards exponential growth by strengthening relationships, winning trust and aligning the efforts towards the achievement of the ultimate vision.

Team Collaboration can be achieved by following the below steps. Delivering a brief to the teams in a meeting.

• Establishing the objectives of the group clearly and objectively.

• Communicating about the role of each member in the group towards the fulfilment of the group roles and also specifying about the possible areas of role overlap and the possible considerations in such cases.

• Providing a reporting format to the team members in which they can furnish their individual result reports and also the team performance reports collectively.

Defining the Structures Clearly for the Teams

Teams with superior structures deliver exceptional outcomes as the team members can consistently track and monitor their performance against the pre-defined specifications and take corrective actions for the realisation of their goals.

The critical factors which govern the definition of clear structures are:

• Description of the entire gamut of roles & responsibilities precisely.

• Implementation of a communication framework having the required systems and processes in place.

• Monitoring the performance of the team members at an individual level and providing feedback regularly.

• Factual Judgment.

Addressing the Issues of Diversity and Conflict Management

Conflicts are part and parcel of diverse teams. Such differences can be avoided by following the below practices:

• Developing a process in which the team members can formally raise their grievances or issues of concern in the meetings.

• Creating an environment where the team objectives/goals precede the personal preferences or aspirations.

• Fostering a culture of mutual respect and trust for each other by providing opportunities for participating in collaborative conversations and building alignment.

Facilitating the Development and Support for Building the Right Attitude

The following pointers are supposed to be considered:

• The attitude of the manager is crucial as the lead essentially sets the example by performing the expected functions transparently and achieving the pre-defined goals by delivering excellence in performance.

• Establishing a system of reward for rewarding and recognising the achievers who deliver outstanding results with the right attitude.

• Creating a culture of appreciation and seeing to it that the good work is appreciated and acknowledged by the other team members for boosting the motivation of their colleagues.

Involving the Team Members in a Commitment for Delivering Excellence at work

The commitment of the team members can be gained by engaging the members in an emotional process, projecting the bigger picture and getting their support. The team’s engagement in the entire process can be achieved by following ways:

• Communicating in advance the importance of contributions at the individual level by the team members for fulfilling the organisational goals.

• Chalking out a clear path of progress for the team members for demonstrating exemplary performance and contributing towards the realisation of the corporate vision.

• Providing a framework for evaluating the achievements in quantifiable terms and establishing a clear structure of rewards for recognising excellent performers.

Establishing a System of Support and providing the Favourable working environment

The following initiatives will help in achieving a supportive and a collaborative work environment for the team members:

• Establishing a system of no blame game where the team members will not be encouraged for raising accusations at others or pointing out fingers towards others.

• Encouraging a process which focuses more on results and achievements.

• Ensuring that the required support and resources are made available for all the team members for realising the vision.

Fostering Teamwork based on Commitment

Commitments lay the foundation for a high-performance team. Commitments lead to the implementation of best practices and specific actions which form the edifice of an excellent team and extraordinary performances.

Shared commitments involve shared accountabilities and shared ownership of vision/mission/goals by the team members.

Creating a Challenging and Rewarding Work Environment for the Team Members

High-Performance teams look beyond the routine operations and concentrate on the realisation of the broader goals. The team members should be committed and motivated to deliver breakthrough performances.

Managing Breakdowns or Barriers to Performance Effectively

High-performance teams should be skilled at translating problems into opportunities for demonstrating excellence at work and achieving the extraordinary goals.

For developing the high-performance organisations, the team members must transform the ways in which they take decisions and actions to achieve action-driven outcomes and attract the commitment of the team members in the entire endeavour for achieving breakthrough outcomes. It influences the team’s ability to innovate, work in alignment, establish and strengthen the relationship with the other members of the team and collaborate for achieving the project goals. It also affects the team’s ability to deliver breakthrough outcomes in the event of specific inevitable breakdowns.

The success of a High-Performance team depends mainly upon clear, open and honest communication framework which takes place amongst the team members and the management as well. Awareness of the one’s communication style and also of others will help in facilitating and strengthening the bond of relationship between the team members by promoting effective communication. The members learn to appreciate the difference in the styles of communication and taking steps for improving their relationship with the other team members by collaborating, cooperating and recognizing the differences in the preferences. The focus will be on achieving synergy in business outcomes by transforming challenges or differences into opportunities.

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