How To Build High-Performing Teams

It is true that the best players won't flourish on a bad team.

 

High-performing teams can make average players great. But the opposite is also true.

 

It takes one bad apple to spoil the whole barrel.

 

Despite busy times, slow times, and challenges, weak teams soon crumble under even the smallest amount of pressure.

 

Average teams survive, but high-performing teams succeed and grow.

 

 

A good culture is the building block of a high-performing team.

 

Poor team culture is like building your house on sand.

 

No matter how well constructed the house or how durable its walls are, rain and wind will eventually wash the sand away and the house will collapse. 

 

People talk about creating a "great culture" but fall short in practice.

 

Everyone goes back to their old ways the moment the first bump in the road occurs. 

 

Culture change does not need to be complicated.

 

It does not have to consume a lot of resources. In fact, it is the opposite.

 

Great culture is about leadership getting out of the way so employees can focus on what they do best. 

 

 

Smart employees won't be able to be creative if they don't have the freedom to do so.

 

Our way of life is counter-intuitive. We need lists and documented processes that tell us where to click and what to do.

 

Lists and processes are great once you really understand them.

 

But the longer you use them, the further you fall behind. 

 

Since ancient times, people have worked in the fields the same way.

 

It wasn't until someone realized that animals could do some of the work for us that this changed.

 

For another thousand years, we used a new way of doing things, but those days are gone.

 

Our world is moving at a high speed.

 

With rapid advances in business and technology, the internet has become an integral part of our lives.

 

Fifty years ago, the internet wasn't even around. Today, it affects everything we do.

 

It is important that teams work loosely and be agile; creating processes, using processes, and always thinking about how to make things better.

 

Teams with high performance know what needs to be done.

 

High-performance team leaders also know they don't know what needs to be done.

 

Leaders must focus on the end goal. But this is not how to get there.

 

 

Leading well means setting clear expectations, defining clearly what they want, but never telling employees how to do their jobs.

 

Each team member must determine how to do their job. How to go to a higher level.

 

How to accomplish tasks that were unimaginable a year, a month, or a week ago.

 

How do leaders set rigorous standards without telling the employees what to do?

 

It's not as difficult as you think. 

 

Set High Goals That Can Be Measured

 

 

The best objectives are long-term and realistic, with measurable results that capture exactly what you hope to achieve.

 

Our objective helps us make sense of what we need.

 

It helps us describe how the work fits into the bigger picture.

 

Team members are more inclined to stay on track if they have measurable results.

 

They don't tell people what to do but they define what their job will be.

 

We set a measurable standard for results, one that can be achieved creatively. 

 

If not handled properly, the freedom to be creative can cause a team to work hard, be enthusiastic about what they're doing, and then fall short of their goals.

 

 

We are all challenged by our own visions. Every person sees the world differently.

 

Life experiences have helped us come together but still make us different. 

 

Every team member must have their own experience.

 

This allows us to approach problems in a different way.

 

Everyone in the team is trying to solve the same problem.

 

However, we all need the same vision to achieve success together. 

 

People on great teams ask lots of questions.

 

 

They're always learning from one another.

 

They work hard to understand how something was done before suggesting some change.

 

Teams with low performance typically propose solutions first instead of asking great questions.

 

Great questions keep team members engaged and help the team develop a better solution. 

 

As everyone is asking great questions and receiving positive reinforcement, a second change occurs.

 

High-performing teams support each other more.

 

Members of the team begin to see value in each other.

 

They become a team that they love being part of.

 

They stop worrying about being the best or worst member of the team.

 

 

Their superiority is not demonstrated by talking about themselves.

 

They become one united, unbreakable unit capable of facing any challenge.