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A high performance team is defined as one that operates with a common purpose, common goals, mutual respect, trust, and commitment. A high performance team goes beyond participation to collaboration where team members work together interactively to achieve common goals by capitalizing on each member’s unique skills, knowledge, and abilities to the fullest.
To become a high performance team, a group must exhibit four primary characteristics:
- Communication
- Sharing
- Collaboration
- Flexibility
These four traits evolve based on your ability as the leader to build a cohesive team unit where team members trust each other, respect each other, commit to the team’s common purpose, and understand why, when, where, and how they add value to the team. When your team exhibits these four high performance team traits, it will be more effective and productive. Conflict will decrease and make way for positive, measurable results.
High performance teams deliver measurable benefits to individual employees and the company as a whole, which transfer to customers, investors, business partners, and other key stakeholders through improved efficiencies, effectiveness, productivity, and results.
A Diverse Team is a Strong Team
Consider the definition of a high performance team. In order for a team to operate at peak levels, members must be committed to a common purpose, however, that doesn’t mean the team is made up of a homogeneous group of “yes” men and women. It means that team members prioritize the organization’s objectives over individuals’ objectives and work collaboratively to achieve a set of common and clear goals.
Remember, high performance teams are characterized by open communication, constructive conflict, mutual respect, trust, and a willingness to relinquish individual control to achieve superior results collectively. A team filled with “yes” men and women cannot operate at the highest levels of performance because there will be no constructive conflict or open communication if everyone is always in agreement (at least outwardly).
The strongest teams include members with different experiences, different areas of knowledge, different work styles, and different ways of thinking. A team filled with autocratic leaders cannot function at peak levels just as a team filled with individuals with a very specific set of expertise cannot because the team will be impeded by tunnel vision. On these teams, innovation is stagnant, creativity is stifled, and the type of breakthrough thinking that delivers a competitive advantage to a business is nonexistent.
Bottom-line, to drive maximum results, develop high performance teams that include a diverse group of members. That is the only way you can be certain that team outputs are the best that they can be.
I am blogging on behalf of Visa Business and received compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s. Visit http://facebook.com/visasmallbiz to take a look at the reinvented Facebook Page: Well Sourced by Visa Business. The Page serves as a space where small business owners can access educational resources, read success stories from other business owners, engage with peers, and find tips to help businesses run more efficiently. Every month, the Page will introduce a new theme that will focus on a topic important to a small business owner’s success. For additional tips and advice, and information about Visa’s small business solutions, follow @VisaSmallBiz and visit http://visa.com/business.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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Diversity is the ultimate ingredient to having an efficient and successful team. Having individuals with different mind sets, thoughts, backgrounds and approaches that will effectively collaborate will prove to result in the best possible results available.