3 Important lessons for building a high-performing team

Over the years I learnt many things about building high-performing teams.  Here are 3 of the most important lessons.

1. Your team needs to know why they are a team.

Sounds simple, but just because people report to the same person it doesn’t make them a team.  The point of a team is that they must be able to achieve more by working together.

To do this a team needs to understand it’s purpose.  I like to call it a statement of intent.  Something that documents what they set out to achieve that everyone commits to.  Goals, objectives and KPIs can then be built around it.

Without this, all you have is a group of people with individual objectives.

2. Clarity should never be assumed.

Everyone in the team must be crystal clear on their role and accountability.  Likewise, everyone outside the team must understand this.

It’s easy to assume that boundaries are known because it’s been discussed.  But often communication needs to happen multiple times for it to be embedded.  Just because it’s clear in your head doesn’t mean it’s clear in everyone else’s.

Create clarity, then re-enforce it.

3.Recognise when you are part of the problem.

Something many leaders struggle with is the inability to let go.  You assume as the leader you must be accountable for everything.

Presumably you have hired people because they are good at what they do.  But if they don’t feel they have accountability they are unlikely to flourish.

Maybe you haven’t hired people because you think you can do it all yourself.  If so, how can you spend any time on strategic vision when you are embedded in the detail?  Either way you need to ask yourself if you are getting in the way of progress.

What do you need to do to help your team become more effective?