Managing a High Performance Team

There are so many things that we accomplish in life that just wouldn’t be possible without the work, effort and time of others. We have all been in situations where we felt being in a group was a hindrance and we would be better of completing a task alone. It is in that moment when the realization of our limitations and our ability to recognize the contributions of others sets our high-performance team apart from a team that delivers average results.

In order to devise a high-performance team one must first understand the essential components needed to build one. Good communication is a vital part of any team function, it involves a lot more then being able to accurately and clearly translate your thoughts into words; one must also be able to listen, understand body language, and most importantly understand human behavior.

Jan Evers, author of “Communicating at Work: Facilitating Good Communications” devised an interesting list that covers some of the good points needed to communicate effectively.

  • Acknowledge others communicating with you verbally and non verbally.
  • Rephrase thoughts. It is often good to rephrase and repeat what is being said to you back to those who are speaking. This insures not only that you understood what they said but more importantly what they meant.
  • Give examples. Using examples or personal experiences is a helpful way to communicate your ideas.
  • Use good diction. Speaking clearly and distinctly is extremely important. People may miss your point if you are hard to understand.
  • Maintain a positive attitude. You can communicate with a positive attitude whenever you speak. People will be more interested in what you say if you are using a positive sentence structure too.
  • Listen actively. Listening is the key in developing any type of relationship.
  • Interpret. Read between the lines of what is being said. Some people have a hard time expressing themselves. You can help them by trying to interpret what they mean.
  • Share. Sharing your ideas is a personal effort to relate to others.
  • Build trust. You need to build a bond of trust between you and the others in the conversation. Make them feel more at ease and they will be more likely to exchange ideas.
  • Make a connection. True communication requires a connection between the parties to a conversation. Try to build a connection. Find a common ground or common interest to open the way to a good conversation

With managing a team comes a great deal of responsibility, as the leader of any group, you must first learn the strength and weaknesses of each team member. Take the time to speak with each member of your team personally, get to know their character and learn their personality; with this information you equip yourself with the knowledge needed to distribute responsibilities, matching each task with the person best suited to excel at it. Clearly outlining goals and setting deadlines for accomplishing these goals will develop a structure for efficiency and quality job performance.

A group diverse both demographically and culturally can help bring new ideas and new ways of thinking to the table. Assembling a team of like minded individuals, with little difference in background is likely to produce uninspired and not particularly innovative results. A person with only a western background may not fully understand how to maximize their effectiveness in an eastern marketplace. However, by diversifying your managed team, you will have a group of individuals with different life experiences and view points, presenting a wide array of ideas and solutions.

Sources:
Jan Evers. “Communicating at work: Facilitating good communication” University of Kentucky Press.