BEST PRACTICES EVERY FERRARI IS A CAR, BUT NOT EVERY CAR IS A FERRARI. QUITE SIMILARLY, EVERY TEAM IS NOT A HIGH PERFORMING TEAM. TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT A HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM LOOKS LIKE, LET’S REVIEW SOME BASIC DEFINITIONS.
TEAM: A GROUP OF PEOPLE ASSOCIATED TOGETHER IN WORK OR ACTIVITY.
HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM: A GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH SPECIFIC ROLES AND COMPLEMENTARY TALENTS AND SKILLS, ALIGNED WITH AND COMMITTED TO A COMMON PURPOSE, WHO CONSISTENTLY SHOW HIGH LEVELS OF COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION THAT PRODUCE SUPERIOR RESULTS.
Building a High Performance Team 1. DEVELOP TRUST WITHIN THE TEAM You must work to develop trust among the team members. Trust develops when you do what you say you are going to do. Since high-performance teams are interdependent, no one succeeds unless commitments are followed through on. Trust erodes when someone feels that they are being treated “unfairly.” High performing
NOW THAT WE KNOW THE BASIC DEFINITION OF A HIGHPERFORMANCE TEAM, THE NEXT QUESTION IS HOW TO GET YOUR TEAM TO PERFORM LIKE ONE. THERE ARE CERTAIN SPECIFIC ELEMENTS THAT SEPARATE HIGH-PERFORMING TEAMS FROM THE REST.
teams always talk about what is fair. Then, work to find ways to resolve issues that are fair to everyone involved.
2. RESIST PLAYING THE “BLAME GAME” When confronted with a problem it is only natural to want to find out who is to blame or how the issue could have happened. The problem with the “blame game” is that communication stops as everyone becomes protective. In the interim, no one is working on solving the problem! High performing teams keep focused on the solution, which keeps blame out of the picture and strengthens relationships within the team.
3. CLEAR EXPECTATIONS, ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES HERE ARE TEN BEST PRACTICES WE’VE IDENTIFIED THAT YOU CAN IMPLEMENT RIGHT AWAY TO MAKE ANY TEAM RUN LIKE A FERRARI.
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Partnering Magazine Winter 2019
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then why not draw a picture of how your team is organized. Who does what? What’s their role? Who has the authority to make which decisions? What is the decision making process? High performing teams allow the team members to ask questions to clarify expectations, and then agree on how things are supposed to, or need to, work. By doing this, expectations on roles, responsibility and authority become very clear.
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