The Truth About High-Performance Teams
Building Them Beyond the Buzz
High-performance teams are the panacea of every organization and the pride of every team leader. We hear a lot about them today, but how many teams truly reach this milestone? Shockingly, only 10% to 20% of teams actually achieve high performance.
It’s More Than Just Output
High performance is a comprehensive term that goes beyond mere delivery. While output is crucial, the true success of a team is tied to the skills of its individual members and the dynamics between them. This involves fostering a culture of trust, promoting assertive communication for internal problem resolution, nurturing commitment, encouraging deep involvement, and, of course, achieving results.
In my experience, whether as a delivery lead, project manager, or product manager, I have always been passionate about this topic, the construction of high-performance teams, since every project, product, initiative, or whatever you want to call it, will always be as good as the team behind it.
The value that an end user receives is directly proportional to the value the team is willing to deliver. Each team member must understand why they are a fundamental part of the whole, and the team itself must grasp the broader vision and the role they play in achieving it.
Frameworks: Which One to Use?
You’ll hear a lot from me about frameworks. The beauty of them is that they are like toolboxes—take what works for you. You don’t have to be married to any single framework or become an evangelist to benefit from them.
Whether it's Management 3.0, BAIN’s Inspirational model, SCORE, or the 4 Ps framework, nothing is written in stone. It’s perfectly valid to borrow from different frameworks based on the situation. Every team and project is unique, and applying the same recipe doesn’t always make sense.
Personally, I’m a fan of the 4 Ps framework: People, Processes, Purpose, and Performance.
Here’s how it aligns with my approach to building high-performance teams:
People: This is the starting point. The interpersonal relationships, communication dynamics, and trust among team members are vital. Recognizing individual skills, encouraging collaboration, and creating an environment where each person feels empowered is key.
I usually do 1:1 sessions with each team member to create a space of trust and comfort. This is the beginning of an individual development plan. Then, we go to team communication. This should be close and constant, and I always try to take the first step to guide the way. Everyone should feel supported and valued.
Purpose: After building a strong team, it’s important to give them a shared purpose—clear goals and a vision of what they’re striving to achieve. The purpose unifies the team and links their efforts to the broader organizational objectives.
Establishing a clear purpose will ensure that the team understands the goals and focuses their efforts accordingly.
I have short sessions with the team every day, not for follow-up but to ensure that we all have a common understanding of what we want to achieve.Process: Once the team and purpose are established, a solid process is essential. It creates structure, minimizes misunderstandings, and ensures everyone knows their role in reaching the goals.
Here, we establish responsibilities and action plans with which each team member is aligned and on board; the process will be that well-oiled engine that will make things flow until it becomes something organic.Performance: You can’t improve what you can’t measure. Setting KPIs and tracking progress helps the team continuously improve and sets new targets for success.
Wrapping Up
Think of a high-performance team as a relationship. When the relationship is solid, the people involved know each other so well that sometimes words aren’t even necessary. A simple gesture is enough for the other person to understand what to do.
The equivalent for teams is having roles, responsibilities, processes, trust, and understanding work naturally—where everyone is on the same page and focused on a common goal. That is the essence of a high-performance team.