High performing teams move quickly and exceed expectations by delivering quality and timely results. Many organizations and managers strive to build high performing teams. Even with a plethora of books and articles written about high performance teams, most organizations struggle to build and sustain them. If a formula for building high performance teams existed, then every organization and manager would have at least one, if not multiple high performing teams. So, where do we go wrong in our quest to build high performing teams?

Mistake #1 – Too Many Leaders

In the quest to build the best team possible, managers often look to assemble a team consisting of the best leaders across the organization. Logically, it makes sense that pulling together all the high performing individuals into one team should result in a high performing team. However, rarely does this method work because people are not like robots. High performing individuals are often passionate about their work. That passion translates into strong feelings and opinions.

There is a proverb that states “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Putting multiple leaders on the same team often creates conflict and a recipe for disaster. I’ve seen “high performing” teams fail, because there were too many star performers who could not figure out how to work effectively as a team. They all want to lead and take control because that is what they do best.

High performing teams must consist of high performing followers.

High performing teams need one great leader and many great followers. Perhaps the greatest challenge to building a high-performance team is not finding a great leader, rather it is finding the great followers that can work with your leader.

Corporate training programs often have a leadership development course or even a program to develop leaders. Have you ever seen a follower development program? Do you know what qualities to look for in a great follower?

In his article titled, “Followership: The other side of leadership,” John McCallum outlined 8 qualities of good followers.

  1. Judgment
  2. Work Ethic
  3. Competence
  4. Honesty
  5. Courage
  6. Discretion
  7. Loyalty
  8. Ego management

Building a high performing team starts with a foundation of high performing followers that are loyal to your cause with a great work ethic and the competence to get the work done. They have the courage to take risks and follow the leader without their egos getting in the way.

Mistake #2 – Providing Too Little Direction

You might assume that a high performing team can work independently and is capable of self-directing. To some degree this might be true, but there is a significant difference between a self-directing team and high-performance teams. The objectives of the teams are different.

The objective of a high-performance team is performance, which is usually measured by higher levels of productivity than other teams. In comparison, the objective of a self-directed team is independence, which requires less management oversight. Self-directed teams need the freedom to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. They need time to self-organize. That freedom and extra time to manage themselves reduces their productivity.

Strategy and purpose empower high-performing teams with key principles and values that keep them aligned and motivated to accomplish the mission.

High performing teams are strategic and purpose driven. They know why their team exists and what their team must do. High performance teams are not an accident. They are purposefully built.

According to the largest global study on the role of purpose in the workplace conducted in 2016, “Purpose orientation directly impacts performance at work.” Purpose is a powerful motivator that gives meaning to work.

Success demands singleness of purpose.
 Vince Lombardi, Football Player and Coach

A good strategy empowers the team leader to make decisions keeping the team aligned with overall objectives. Like a quarterback changing a play at the line of scrimmage, because he sees an opportunity. That ability to change the play quickly requires advanced planning and preparation. Everyone on the team must know the plan and their role.

High performing teams possess a diversity of skills and experience that compliments each other by filling in the gaps to provide a stronger cohesive unit.

Building a team that can perform well in a variety of situations requires a diverse set of skills to cover each situation. Using the football analogy, the quarterback throws the ball, the receiver catches the ball, and the kicker kicks the ball. Each player is capable of throwing, catching, and kicking a ball. A coach watches how the players perform and aligns the roles to the strengths of each player.

In sports, the coach watches from the sidelines and then provides their team with direction to improve performance. In the world of business, you need a coach watching on the sidelines and then providing direction to the team to improve performance. Note, the coach’s role is on the sidelines, where they can see the big picture.

Mistake #3 – Burnout from Too Much Work

High performing teams are passionate and work harder than most. As a result, they need more rest than lower performing teams. However, in many organizations, high performing teams are rewarded with more work, not rest. Work is often taken away from the struggling and low performing team, and then given to the high performing team. Does that sound fair?

According to a Gallup study on employee burnout, burned out employees are:

The same Gallup study found that unfair treatment at work and unmanageable workloads were the two leading factors tied to burnout. Your low performing employees who take it easy at work don’t burn out. Hard working employees who feel like they are being taken advantage of and are not given the opportunity to rest are the employees who burn out.

Burnout is a Management Problem

When a high performing team or individual completes an assignment, it is their manager’s responsibility to reward them and manage the workload. The reward needs to feel appropriate and be proportional to the accomplishment. Big achievements deserve big rewards.

Hard working and purpose driven employees often make personal sacrifices to achieve the prize. They are committed to staying engaged and helping the team win. In sports, it is the coach’s responsibility to identify when a player is getting tired and needs to be pulled out to rest. In business, it is the manager’s responsibility to identify when an employee is working too hard and needs to rest.

If you want to keep a high-performance team together, then you must give them rest.

Likewise, if you want to build additional high-performance teams in the future, then your organization needs to trust that you will reward their hard work. Employees are always watching. If they see a hard-working team never get a break, then what is their motivation to work hard?

According to a 10-year and 200,000 person study, 79% of employees who quit their jobs cite lack of appreciation as the key reason. High performing teams often fall apart when team members quit or burnout. Perhaps one of the bigger challenges for management is not building a high-performance team, rather recognizing it and keeping it together.

An agile business needs high performing teams to execute strategies and deliver timely results. In summary, you must…