Mastering High Performance Teams
1 of 7
Characteristi cs of a High Performance Team
Understanding the keys that achieve exceptional
team results
[The following is an excerpt from Pat
MacMillan’s team book The Performance
Factor to be published in March 2001]
F
or most of us, positive team
experiences are rare. If you have been
part of an extraordinary team in the
past, you will probably long for that
experience again. People often drift into
and then out of extraordinary team
situations, wondering what made that
group ‘click’ and how to replicate it. A
key first step to more predictable and
enhanced team performance is under-
standing the common characteristics of
teams that consistently achieve
exceptional results.
A team is like an automobile. Many of
us don’t understand the inner workings
of a modern automobile. Should we ever
look under the hood, we see an
indecipherable tangle of wires, tubes,
pieces, and parts. And if anything breaks
down, we very often don’t know how to
get it running again. As with cars, if we
are going to build effective teams, start
stalled ones, or fix broken ones, then we
must become master mechanics of team
dynamics.
As we have studied and researched
teams and teamwork over the years, we
have found consistently similar qualities
and characteristics in teams that achieve
exceptional results. This list of
characteristics has proven to be of
immeasurable value as we have worked
with clients to establish new teams or to
intervene when team effort was less than
effective. It’s a short list; in fact it
contains only six characteristics. But
each characteristic plays a specific and
vital role in making the team effective,
and therefore it is worth a closer look. If
one of these six characteristics is
missing or inadequate, the team is, at
best, limping. If two or three are lacking,
this group is probably not a team at all.
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The following model shows the six
characteristics in abbreviated form. In
the next few weeks, we are going to
examine a high performance team and
explore each characteristic in some
detail.
Common Purpose
The single most important ingredient in
team success is a clear, common,
compelling task. The power of a team
flows out of the alignment of a purpose
to which every team member is
aligned. The task of any team is to
accomplish an objective and to do it at
exceptional levels of performance.
Teams are not ends in themselves, but
rather means to an end. Therefore high
performance teams will be mission-
directed, ultimately judged by their
results.
Crystal Clear Roles
High performance teams are also
characterized by crystal clear roles.
Every team member is clear about his
or her particular role, as well as those
of the other team members. Roles are
all about how we design, divide, and
deploy the work of the team. While the
C om m on
Pu rp ose
E xce lle nt C rysta l C lea r
C om m u nic a tion Roles
So lid A c ce pted
Re la tio nship s L eade rsh ip
Eff ective
Pr oces ses
Figure 1
No.
concept is compellingly logical, many
teams find it very challenging to
implement in practice. There is often a
tendency to take role definition to
extremes or not take it far enough. But
when they get it right, team members
discover that making their combination
more effective and leveraging their
collective efforts is key to synergistic
results.
Accepted Leadership
High performance teams need clear,
competent leadership. When such
leadership is lacking many groups lose
their way. Whereas a common,
compelling task might be the biggest
contributor to team effectiveness,
inadequate team leadership may be the
single biggest reason for team
ineffectiveness. Teams are, in the very
truest sense, volunteers. Volunteers are
not managed but rather demand
accepted leadership capable of calling
out the levels of commitment, initiative
and creativity that motivate exceptional
levels of both individual and collective
performance.
Effective Processes
Teams and processes go together.
Many professions take processes for
granted. It would never occur to a
surgical team, construction crew, string
quartet, or a film crew to approach their
tasks without clearly defined processes.
The playbook of a football team or the
score sheet of a string quartet clearly
outlines their processes. Business teams
have processes as well. Instead of a run
off tackle or executing the scene in Act
II, such processes might include
solving problems, making decisions,
managing a meeting, processing
insurance claims, product design, and
any other avenues we take in pursuit of
our mission. Hopefully, in each of these
processes, each of us has a clear,
specific role based on our function,
skills, and expertise. In many business
settings, however, such processes are
often inadequate, ill-defined, or missing
entirely. High performance teams
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 Mastering High Performance Teams
_________________________________________________________________________________________
identify, map, and then master their key
team and business processes. They
constantly evaluate the effectiveness of
key processes, asking how are we
doing? What are we learning? How can
we do it better?
Solid Relationships
One of the biggest misperceptions I
find in the world of teams and
teamwork is the belief that to work and
communicate effectively, team
members must be close comrades. Not
true. In fact, the diversity of skill,
experience, and knowledge needed to
effectively and creatively divide the
task almost precludes high levels of
friendship, which is most often based
on common interests.
Speaking of diversity,
we find that the more
different a team is, the
smarter it can be. A
team whose members
look at the world
through the different
lenses of function,
gender, ethnicity,
personality,
experience, and
perspective has a
decided advantage
over a more homogenous group. The
diverse group will be able to surround
problems, decisions and other team
issues with a brighter collective IQ.
They will see more solutions and more
creative solutions if they can channel
their differences into synergy rather
than strife.
Because diversity provides plenty of
opportunity for discord, conflict, and
communication breakdowns, especially
among teams that must accomplish
their tasks in complex, high velocity,
dynamic environments, their
differences must be offset by trust,
acceptance, respect, courtesy, and a
liberal dose of understanding.
Excellent Communication
Communication is the very means of
cooperation. One of the primary
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No. 1 of 7
motives for companies to implement has questions for you to think over as
teams is that team-based organizations you begin your journey.
are more responsive and move faster. A
team, or the organization in which it
resides, cannot move faster than it
communicates. Fast, clear, accurate
communication is a hallmark of high
levels of team performance. Such teams
have mastered the art of straight talk;
there is little wasted motion from
misunderstanding and confusion. Ideas
move like quicksilver. The team
understands that effective
communication is key to thinking
collectively and finding synergy in
team solutions. As a result they
approach communication with a
determined intentionality. They talk
about it a lot and put a lot of effort into
keeping it good and
getting better.
The single most Summary
important
When it comes to
ingredient in teams, these six
team success is a characteristics are the
lightning in the bottle.
clear, common, If a team gets these
few things right, they
compelling task. will realize results as
well. By effectively
applying the principle
and practices that will
be un-bundled in the next year, teams
will avoid many of the pitfalls and
problems that derail many team
initiatives.
However, the major focus of this
“team” initiative book will be on
ensuring that you have a clear grasp on
the qualities that describe a high Team Resources, Inc. is an
performance team. Our objective is to international consulting firm
introduce you to the six characteristics specializing in organizational, team,
when it comes to building high and leadership development. Our
performance teams. mission is to assist our clients in
building high performance
In the next several weeks we will look organizations that will achieve
under the hood of a high performance sustained competitive advantage by
team. We have designed a series of six providing superior customer value
quick-read articles which will each through their people.
address one of the six team
characteristics. Each article will explore Headquartered in Atlanta, we can be
in greater detail the key qualities contacted by phone at 1.800.214.3917
behind that particular team or visit our web site at
characteristic. In addition, each article www.teamresources.com.
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