How do we create a high performing team ?

5 min readMar 21, 2022

Going simply by definition, high performing teams are a group of people who share a common vision, goals and metrics, who collaborate, challenge and hold each other accountable, to achieve outstanding results.

Whether it’s a new project or an existing one, fundamentals remain the same when looking to establish high performing teams..Through this blog, we are going to reflect upon a story about how our team which was built from scratch and went on to be a high performing one, following the practices which we have laid out here based upon our personal experiences.

To begin with, we would like to briefly discuss the setup of the team which we started with.

Team Setup

Our team set up was remote (Oct 2020) where all except a few members of the team were onboarding virtually into the team and organisation.

So the challenge for us was to kick start our team while contending with the fact that there was never a realistic chance in the near future for the complete team to get together and bond.

What factors contribute to a team becoming a high performing team

Expectation Setting

Expectations from individual roles in the team might differ depending on previous experiences and engagements.Expectation setting sets the expectations of individuals towards the team and makes them aware of their responsibilities in their role in the current team.

We did an exercise where the team themselves wrote their expectations from each role and complete teams aligned on the same.

Setting expectations themselves helps more than dictating those expectations.Additionally having one-on-one conversations also helps as some individuals may not be forthcoming with their thoughts in an open forum.

Alignment on Ways of working

Teams generally have different rituals, ceremonies, and processes on how they execute their day-to-day business.It’s really important for team members to align on the right set of necessary rituals/ceremonies and audiences for these rituals.

Everyone plays a significant role in making sure we remain aligned to these processes to achieve the team’s outcomes and maintain standards within the team.

Continuous Feedback Cycle

Continuous feedback whether it’s an appreciation or constructive help in making a strong team.Feedback never works one way and it’s important that all roles in the team can share feedback to each other without any concerns.

Idea is to have regular conversations amongst team members where they can connect formally/informally and reflect and share their aspirations as well. These interactions can later feed into cultivation plans for the team members.

Team Vision & Success Factors

Team Vision(Business and tech Vision) aligns the team to the common Goal.

Consider a team’s vision to launch a new product category on their ecommerce website by the end of Year 2022 v team having no vision / clarity on what they are doing in the next 2 months.

This materially impacts on how a team can visualise their contribution to the ultimate success of overall project goals. Having a vision helps also bring in required stability to the team knowing fully well the definition of success which propels them to work towards that goal.

Though achieving a vision is no mean feat and there would be challenges/obstacles along the way but having this overall clarity let them stay on course.

Cultivation

Every team member has their own potential. A good team knows the strengths and weaknesses of team members and learns and improves together. Cultivation is encouragement, support, influence and facilitate the growth and development of the individual and the team.

As team members mature in their role, it is important to understand their aspirations and provide them with the opportunities aligned with how they want to grow and learn. This would help in grooming future leaders in the team and also make sure that team does not suffer from an experience vacuum at any given point of time, thus reducing the bus factor. All this can be made sure if the cultivation aspect in the team is given its due importance.

Image source : Blog Bonus

Team Bonding

Team bonding[source :insperity] activities can be an effective strategy for building a strong, cohesive workforce. Although working together may give your employees a glimpse into their coworkers’ personalities and work styles, it doesn’t always foster the team dynamic that bonding activities can help you build.

Done right, team bonding activities can inspire your team to step out of their normal routines, break down barriers and strengthen relationships among coworkers. Establishing a personal connection is critical for building trust. When team members are engaged, they’re often more productive and are even less likely to quit.

Transparency

Keeping all relevant information transparent to team members brings in the trust factor in the team. It also assists team leaders to execute plans and make decisions, knowing the fact that the team understands the rationale behind the changes that are being brought about which could be aspects related to staffing, delivery, priority etc.

Managing Pressure Situations

Traversing the pressure situations is a key for any team but would you want all your team members exposed to it whether it’s delivery pressure, changing priorities, delivery / quality issues raised by stakeholders….?

Not really as this often could bog a team down and distract them from their vision

It’s really important in situations like these that leaders in the team take the brunt of that pressure and only pass down information which is relevant for the team that would help mitigate the situation.

Summary

Looking back at the above factors, we feel that these principles are something that could apply in different situations for all teams. What makes these tick and make a team high performing successful team is the willingness of every team member to contribute to the team’s causes and supporting each other in their individual journey’s too.