5 Ways to Create a High Performing Team During Difficult Times

When we face unpredictable challenges we need to be able to rely on our team to perform with excellence. To create and cultivate high performance teams, we also need to be constantly on the lookout to recruit newcomers who have proven to be the best in their fields. Unfortunately, there are some extreme challenges, such as a global pandemic, that have caused recruitment to become a low priority in many industries. This does not mean that it is then impossible to build a high performance team. On the contrary, this limitation actually affords us the opportunity to look for high potential and high performance individuals from within the current team.

Look Within

The perfect place to start when creating high performance teams under uncertain circumstances is to draw from the talent you already possess. Building your team from within not only allows individuals the opportunity to advance and develop their skills, but it means that leaders are getting to look closely at some high potential team members who might have otherwise gone unnoticed. The added benefits of selecting from your current team is that it saves time at the beginning when you are building strong interpersonal relationships, as they likely will have already collaborated well before. Meaning that the team as a whole can begin working towards their goals much sooner.

Providing Feedback

One of the best ways to actively build your team and improve performance is to provide clear and consistent feedback. After all, how can anyone get better if they are unaware of any performance gaps? Feedback should be given in a 180 or 360 degree manner that takes into account the goals of the business, the team, and how individuals can be supported to help achieve those goals. This method of motivation also works to encourage teams to do more of what they already are excelling in. It provides them with a clear understanding of what they need to do to achieve results. It is important that an organisation has a good 180 degree feedback process in place that strengthens the relationship between a staff and manager, and they can then move beyond this to apply 360 degree feedback and those results can be revisited regularly. This helps drive accountability not just for results but also for cultural aspects of a role, and encourages continuous development. 

Provide Inspiration

Considering that the day-to-day work of a high performance team is left largely to their own direction, it becomes the role of leadership to be able to continually provide inspiration rather than specific direction. These leaders know how to spark enthusiasm and passion in their teams for the work they are doing. When teams feel that their work has great value, they are better able to come up with creative or innovative solutions. Setting stretch goals creates an internal drive in the team to push themselves further and accomplish more than they thought themselves capable. There is then an increased sense of pride and engagement with the work. Also, in a world that is becoming more complex and with organisations looking for cultural change, the ability to provide inspiration and support a team during all types of business conditions has become even more important.

Trust in Leadership

Consistently, trust is identified as a key element of high performance teams. Not only do the individual members of these teams need to trust in one another, they also need to have trust in their leader. High performance teams are mostly self-sufficient and do not actually require a lot of supervision, but they will on occasion need to have a dedicated leader to help resolve conflict, inspire new action, set stretch goals, and communicate feedback. It is therefore important for the team to be able to trust in that person to make the best decision in service of the whole team’s ambitions.

Why Employers Need High Performance Teams

As the past year has proven, drastic shifts in workplace operations can occur with very little warning or time to prepare. When faced with this kind of disruption and uncertainty of the future, it becomes clear just how vital it is to ensure that teams are able to adapt to these changes. High performance teams are better positioned to overcome the challenges of uncertainty thanks to their experience with working closely under pressure. Investing in high performance teams can reduce staff turnover, achieve better results, and adapt quickly to achieve new goals.

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

Let us help you find what you’re looking for!