The Complete Guide to Building High-Performance Teams that Work Great Together

This article was originally published on mudassirmustafa.com

What is a high-performance team?

A high-performance team is a group of people that are all working towards the same goal. They have open communication, and they support one another to achieve the best results possible.

There are many different types of teams in the workplace. Some teams are made up of employees from different departments or job titles, while others may be made up of people with similar work experience or even just a shared interest.

There is no one perfect type of team for any given organization, but there are some general guidelines to follow when it comes to building an effective team. The first thing that needs to be addressed is the purpose and goals of the team — these will help determine which members will be needed and what their roles should be. Here’s an amazing article from HBR that explains 5 Things High-Performing Teams Do Differently.

4 Ways to Build High-Performance Teams

The key to building a high-performance team is to have each team member’s skills and strengths complement one another. It is also important that the team members have a good rapport with one another and can work together as a cohesive unit.

Here are four ways that you can build high performing teams:

• Create an environment where team members feel valued and respected.

It’s not a maybe but a must-have. Yes, the employees are supposed to do all their jobs but that doesn’t mean that should go unnoticed or unrecognized. Recognition plays an important role in retaining top employees. Readout this amazing article on how employee recognition helps you in retaining top talents.

• Encourage healthy debate, brainstorming, and collaboration.

In the tech world, especially in the developing world most developers are just ‘told’ to say on their workstations (pre-covid) and they are not encouraged to have opinions, thoughts, or are completely involved in brainstorming ideas. Providing equal opportunities plays an important role in building a healthy work relationship with your team.

• Provide opportunities for personal development for each individual on the team.

Personal development is half of everyone’s personality. This starts with setting up the growth plans for your team member, setting 30–60–90 days of learning goals, keeping the feedback loop very tight, thinking beyond the formal training, and most importantly asking and listening. Read this fabulous article from Forbes on supporting your employee.

• Give them regular feedback on their progress towards goals set out in their performance reviews.

The longer the feedback the lesser value it provides. It’s paramount that you provide valuable feedback to your team members as frequently as you can. The 30–60–90 model has a lot of value to it. The first 30 days are for the employee to get adjusted and accustomed to ‘Your Way’ of doing things, the next 30 are where his curiosity comes in and the last 30 are the ones where he works towards the goal. If you are providing the feedback yearly, chances are either your employee has already grown out of that role or you have forgotten to comment on an important issue. It’s not planned but rather impulsive, not thorough, and subjective.

Top 10 Ways to Build Positive Team Dynamics

This article will help you understand the importance of team dynamics and how to build positive team dynamics.

Team dynamics is how a group of people works together. It is important because it can have a major impact on how productive they are. Here are 10 ways to build positive team dynamics. They are:

1) Encourage diversity within the team

2) Provide feedback

3) Remove roadblocks

4) Allow for failure

5) Provide job-embedded training

6) Give autonomy

7) Hold regular meetings

8) Ensure everyone has a voice

9) Have clear goals

10) Work as a team

Conclusion

Creating a high-performing workplace takes more than simply hiring the right people and arming them with the right tools to do their work. It requires creating opportunities for genuine, authentic relationships to develop. Fostering close connections among teammates need not be expensive or time-consuming. By incorporating simple, evidence-based practices that yield better communication, more productive meetings, and deeper friendships, every workplace can fuel people’s basic psychological need for relatedness and lift team performance.

Grazie!