This article describes the characteristics and processes through which high-performance teams are created, including leadership, communication, and how strategy alignment is favored with these teams.
Introduction
One of the main challenges for managers, directors or team leaders is the formation of high-performance work teams.
The creation of high performance teams is not a mythical topic, however it is not easy to find this type of teams frequently.
In order to build a high-performance team, an environment of trust, leadership, good communication, a clear understanding of the objective to be achieved and the participation of each member must be created, trying to make the most of their strengths.
The above leads us first to try to understand a little better the characteristics and dynamics that high-performance teams have, which we will review in this article. Understanding this frame of reference will help us to properly manage people and build high-performance work teams.
In a new era of knowledge and rapid changes, those companies that manage to develop leadership systems through which high-performance teams can enhance their core competencies and understand that the strategic alignment of their different areas is a continuous process, in which the participants of these teams will actively participate in the negotiation, discussion and rethinking of the strategies, always seeking to maintain optimal levels of execution. Those companies that manage to create mechanisms like the one described above will achieve a true competitive advantage.
"As the sociologist Max Weber argued a century ago, institutions that endure thrieve not because of one leader's charisma, but because they cultivate leadership throughout the system." Goleman
In nature we can find many examples of how teamwork favors team participants. Some of the clearest examples are how animal herds protect each other and seek synergy when hunting their food.
It is also important to understand that in such a competitive stage in organizations it is essential to train leaders who can form high-performance teams. Some of the main elements identified in effective teams are:
- Effective teams have interdependent members. Effective teams try to make their members work more efficiently together than alone. Effective teams work so well that they generate their own magnetism. Effective teams don't always have the same leader. Effective teams have members. that support the leader and vice versa. Effective teams have a high level of trust among their members.
Since the human being is sociable there are several benefits of teamwork from allowing the specialization of tasks such as the distribution of work and complement of ideas. There are several elements that make teamwork attractive.
We will try to standardize our perception of what is considered a team through the following definition. A team is a group of people who are related through interdependent activities, that their interaction impacts the other members, therefore they see themselves as a single unit.
There may be many more definitions of what a team is, however the previous definition has the basic elements of a team, which are interdependent activities, a vision of a common goal and whose interdependence has an impact on the overall result of the team. Now knowing the main elements of a team it is worth explaining why it is very important to build and mature high performance teams in organizations. The research carried out shows that people's productivity, quality and morale is better when mechanisms are in place to promote teamwork. Below is a summary of the results found when analyzing 439 companies within the Fortune 1000.
| Performance criteria | % indicating an improvement |
| Change in management style to a more participatory one | 78 |
| Improvement in processes and procedures | 75 |
| Improved decision-making style | 69 |
| Improved employee confidence in management | 66 |
| Improvement in technology implementation | 60 |
| Removing monitoring layers | fifty |
In the previous table we can review that there is a very solid argument in the relationship between a healthy teamwork mechanics and a better obtaining of results in the organization. However, it is also necessary to know some of the conflicting elements of teamwork.
Sometimes the teams can take a long time to make a decision or they can fall into the “groupthink” error or they can all agree on a position related to a project, in order to minimize these risks, below we will analyze in more depth the essential elements that they must be present in a high-performance team, as well as the stages of team creation and formation.
In high-performance teams, the behavior of the members is interdependent, and personal goals revolt towards achieving the team's objective. There is a desire to belong to teams. Despite the fact that a group of individuals are formally designated as members of a team, if they act individually seeking to get all the credit or meet their goals first than those of the team we would not be talking about a true team.
The main challenge in building high-performance teams is finding a way to achieve interdependence, efficiency, magnetism, shared responsibility, mutual support, and trust between tasks and team members.
A primary attribute of high-performance teams is that they have an effective leader in coordinating and leading the team. The first step to being a leader is to create credibility. Effective leaders have the respect and commitment of team members.
Establishing credibility and the ability to influence team members is the leader's first challenge. The study by Kouzes and Posner (1987) identified credibility as the most important requirement for leading effective teams. Once credibility has been established, there are 7 behaviors that favor the construction of credibility:
- Demonstrate integrity. It implies doing what one says, being consistent with the proclaimed values, integrity is essential so that team members do not perceive that there is a double agenda. Be clear and consistent. It is necessary to express and transmit certainty that it is what you want without being foolish or dogmatic. Create positive energy. It is very important to keep the team optimistic and avoid criticism or challenge. Use empathy and reciprocity. Team members tend to agree more with the leader if they have received reciprocity and understanding in return. Manage agreements and disagreements. When team members agree with the leader, the result will be better than using a one-sided argument. Motivate and advise. It is very important to help team members avoid fear and direct efforts towards results. Sharing information. By sharing information, you can identify and understand the perspectives of team members.
Once teams have developed trust in the leader, it is possible for the leader to articulate a motivating vision for the team. All teams have specific goals and objectives to meet, however a vision is somewhat different. The vision helps illuminate the core values and principles that will guide the future. The vision guides actions and some of its characteristics are:
- Left and right brain. An effective vision contains the objective, goals and actions to be met as well as metaphors, colorful language and emotion. It must capture the reason and imagination of the people. Interesting. A vision should narrow perspectives and contradict the status quo or simple goals to achieve. Principle and passion. An effective vision must be based on the principles and values that team members believe in.
Individuals in different cultures may present particularities, so it is very important to know and understand their orientation according to their perception of collectivity, and locus of control. In the case of having a team from several countries, if the cultural and perception differences are not considered, the strengths of the participants cannot be added.
Regardless of the role we play in a team, in order to function effectively in a team it is very important that the stages of team building are known. The main characteristics of each stage of team development and construction are shown in the table below.
| Stage | Explanation |
| Training | The team finds itself in need of understanding, to achieve a common understanding of its objective and limits. Relationships must be formed as well as trust building. |
| Standardization | The team is faced with the creation of cohesion and unity, there are roles, the expectations of the members are identified and the commitment is increased. |
| Storm | The team is in disagreements and differences, it is necessary to manage the conflict. The challenge includes overcoming the groupthink. |
| Performance | The team meets the need for continuous improvement, innovation, speed and capitalization as its core competencies. |
Knowing these stages allows us to develop a strategy to soften and optimize the strengths of each stage, in this way it can be planned at what time the results and renovations of equipment and objectives should be required according to these cycles.
conclusion
The creation of high performance groups is one of the challenges of modern organizations, since they must enable structure and reward mechanisms that avoid paying tribute to the position and direct people to search for their own interests to fulfill their objectives and obtain their bond.
It is a reality that these characteristics are not explicitly or continuously presented in the Mexican labor culture, much less the mechanisms to promote their continuity. That is why it is very important to know the theory as a frame of reference and to take the evidence from the investigations to learn and put into practice these recommendations with the aim of forming high-performance teams.
To build high-performance teams, companies must create mechanisms to support a new vision in this respect in the culture and way of life of employees.
High-performance teams do not necessarily work harder, nor are they smarter than others, the main difference is that they can organize to work and deliver exceptional results given the sum of their strengths and internal organization. This topic can be complemented with additional readings regarding competency-based management, high-power incentives, strategic HR alignment, leadership and motivation.
Bibliography
- Whetten, David & Cameron, Kim. Developing Management Skills. Prentice Hall, Sixth Edition. USA 2004 Goleman, Daniel. Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Harvard Business School Press. USA 2002, p. 38
