How Do I Create a High Performing Team?
Firstly, why do I need a team that is high performing?
The answer quite simply is that high performing teams produce superior results
The value of a high performing team has long been recognised both in business and in sport. As Basketball legend Michael Jordan puts it:
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
Or as Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn cofounder, says: “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a game solo, you’ll always lose out to a good team”.
Teams are an integral part of how all businesses operate. This could be internal teams, or for smaller businesses, your teams could be made up of both internal staff and external contractors.
The 4 Key Elements of Teamwork
Building and developing a high performing team can be tough though. All the key elements of high performance need to be aligned, where:
- Everyone in the team understands the team’s goals and targets and what they are collectively working towards
- Everyone in the team understands their individual role, goals and targets and knows what is expected of them
- Team members are clear regarding how to work together and how to accomplish tasks as a team
- Team members have a solid and deep trust in each other. They communicate openly, freely and respectfully share ideas and feedback
But there is one crucial element that is not covered above and that is, identifying the skills and attributes required to drive your high performing team.
The Secret Ingredient
Call this the ‘secret sauce’ if you like. What is it that will set your team apart from the rest? What unique skills and abilities will define your team and, when perfected, will enable them to outshine the others. For example, think of your favourite AFL team. What is their special brand of play? Are they a strong marking side or aggressive in defence, for instance?
Whether you are building a new team or working with an existing team, you have the opportunity to recruit or train your people to match the specific skill sets and attributes you need to be best in class.
Start with Purpose
To get clear on this you need to start with the purpose of the team. What is it you are setting out to achieve? For example, if you are a management accounting team, is your purpose to provide high quality and time critical information to enable important strategic decisions to be made by the business?
Once you are clear about the team’s purpose, you can start to identify what are the unique and special skills and attributes you need for the team to achieve its goals and objectives. Using the above example your team may need to excel in areas such as data analysis, report writing and presentation, advanced excel techniques, and persuasive and logical reasoning, to name a few.
Build a Skills Matrix
Having identified these skills and attributes, you can now look at whether or not you have them within your current team members or whether you need to recruit or train to fill the gaps. The easiest way to do this is by downloading our free Skills Matrix below.
Completing a skills analysis using the Skills Matrix provided, gives you a great opportunity to grow, expand and develop the skills to create a high performing team. To identify your ‘secret sauce’ if you like, and to develop your unique brand of play. It is also a fantastic opportunity to find out the hidden “gems” you might have within your team already. There may be people within your team with skills you had no idea about.
Completing a skills analysis using this free Skills Matrix, gives you a great opportunity to grow, expand and develop the skills to create a high performing team. Click here to download our free template.
At Howardco we are passionate about helping our clients build sustainable, profitable businesses powered by high performing teams and this starts with recruiting, developing and leading with the right people. Contact us today to enquire how we can help your team ‘find their secret sauce!’
