High-performing teams do everything better. They get more accomplished. Their results are superior. They’re happier to be working together.
So what’s the secret to building high-performing teams? Follow these 5 steps:
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- Discover Individual Strengths
- Assess Team Strengths
- Develop (and Hire) for Gaps
- Build Your Team’s Brand
- Solve Challenges Together
Discover Individual Strengths
Start with assessing individual strengths. What are your team members’ superpowers (what they’re great at)? It’s great for all of your team members not only know their own superpowers, but those of their teammates. Sharing knowledge, skills, and abilities among the team strengthens both individual and team performance.
This is also the place to think about what individual strengths haven’t yet been put into play in a team setting. If you’ve got a great strategic thinker on your team, but she’s never involved in long-range planning, or an excellent writer who’s not currently involved in your team’s communication tasks, think about how these superpowers might best serve and elevate your team.
Assess Team Strengths
Next, look at the team all together. What are the things that your team does great, as a team? It could range from giving awesome customer service, to strategizing solutions, to being terrific at solving technical problems, to managing projects well. Consider defining team strengths in a team activity – it can be both a revealing and gratifying exercise.
Develop (and Hire) for Gaps
When you reflect on the superpowers of the team, which superpowers are lacking or underdeveloped? If your team needs a hard-to-develop technical skill, consider hiring externally for a new team member.
On the other hand, if the entire team needs to develop something like management skills, arrange for a leadership workshop or other leadership development experience for them. When the team shares a learning experience, they’re set up to reinforce each other’s results.
Build Your Team’s Brand
What’s your team’s reputation? How is your team different and special? When each team member understands how they contribute to their team brand, they’ll not only be more aligned with team goals, but they’ll be more engaged in their work. And when others know what your team is great at, you’ll help your team build their reputation in your organization.
Solve Challenges Together
When teams collaborate to solve challenges, they reap big benefits. Team problem-solving delivers both increased risk-taking and a more diverse range of solutions to choose from. And as collaboration goes up, so does commitment and communication. Your team’s performance, and reputation, will soar.
What’s your best tip for building high-performing teams? Tell us in the comments below!