Developing High Performance Teams
The Rehabilitation Leadership Framework provides a structure for leadership and guidance to help us improve our leadership skills.
What is a High Performance Team?[edit | edit source]
A high performance team is a team that understands its purpose, values are clearly set out and team members are mutually accountable for outcomes. Team members are committed to achieving the team’s specified outcomes. Specific characteristics of a high performance team are encompassed in the following acronym:
- Purpose, trust and common values
- Empowerment in decision making
- Relationships and communication
- Flexibility and autonomy
- Optimal productivity and efficiency
- Recognition and appreciation
- Morale and engagement
Purpose, Trust and Common Values[edit | edit source]
Members of a high performance team will understand the purpose of their work and will trust team members. From this, the team will agree upon goals, roles will be defined and strategies developed.
Empowerment in Decision Making[edit | edit source]
A team will become empowered when it understands the decision making parameters and goals of an organisation or team. If decision making practices and accountability are clearly defined, team members can have autonomy and the opportunity to experience collective and personal power. The best teams will self manage and be able to work independently towards milestones and outcomes.
RELATIONSHIPS AND COMMUNICATION[edit | edit source]
It is essential that team members feel they can take risks, as well as share their thoughts, opinions and feelings without fear. Differences of opinion are valued in a high performance team. If they create conflict, it is important that this conflict is managed in a respectful manner.
FLEXIBILITY AND AUTONOMY[edit | edit source]
The high performance team has the ability to adapt to changing conditions and demands. Roles are shared and all members are able to support each other. Strengths of individuals are identified and utilised.
OPTIMAL PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY[edit | edit source]
A high performance team will be committed to optimal productivity and efficiency. They will have high standards and strive to meet deadlines and reach goals. They will also hold each other accountable, but everyone takes pride in the team’s achievements.[edit | edit source]
RECOGNITION AND APPRECIATION[edit | edit source]
Everyone, including the leader, recognises each other’s contributions. Because of this, team members feel appreciated/regarded.
MORALE AND ENGAGEMENT[edit | edit source]
Morale refers to the pride that comes from belonging to the team and achieving defined goals. Engagement refers to the emotional connection that team members feel towards others in the group. Members of high performing will feel confident and enthusiastic. They will be optimistic that they can achieve desired outcomes.
These attributes have certain benefits for all connected to the team, from team members to clients, organisations and team leaders.
Common Challenges of Team Development[edit | edit source]
It is important as a leader to be aware of the pitfalls of team development. This allows the leader to be proactive and ensure the team has the ability to become high performing.
Trust[edit | edit source]
Most models of team development focus on developing positive relationships as soon as possible. Trust is essential in a team. The ways in which conflict is managed will have a significant impact on whether or not trust develops in a team. While leaders may be tempted to avoid conflict, productive differences of opinion need to be encouraged. It is important that everyone in the team feels able to share their views or opinions. They should know that every perspective or view is valued and will be respected. Teams are not, however, static - members come and go. This can affect interpersonal dynamics, which can in turn, upset the trust within a team.
Connection[edit | edit source]
Connection can be difficult to achieve, especially for dispersed teams. Because these teams rarely meet in person, they must connect through technology. This almost inevitably results in occasional misunderstandings. Some strategies to address this include:
- Video based meeting
- Intermittent in person team building
- Email or text guidelines
Focus[edit | edit source]
Team members can sometimes become distracted and lose focus. A team leader must ensure that members have a clear understanding of priorities, especially early on in the team development process.
Momentum[edit | edit source]
Changes in team membership, organisational restructuring, funding changes or interpersonal tensions can affect momentum. The leader needs to be able act to ensure a team is able to reset or refresh in order to keep things moving forward.
Complexity[edit | edit source]
A focus on collaborative decision making and collective action adds a degree of complexity to achieving tasks. This can be frustrating for some team members as some individuals prefer that the leader takes unilateral action. However, high performing teams will tend to rely on collective wisdom in the team.
Organisational issues[edit | edit source]
Hierarchical decision making in organisations, as well as power dynamics, conflicting objectives and system barriers all affect a team’s ability to achieve its purpose. This is especially true as team members often have little influence over these factors. The leader needs to be able to identify and remove as many barriers as possible to ensure the team’s success.
