7E. Building High-Performing Teams

7E1. A high-performing team is a group of individuals that work cohesively together to deliver results.
7E2. Characteristics of high-performing teams include:
- 7E2i. Individuals can count on each other.
- 7E2ii. Decisions are made primarily by consensus.
- 7E2iii. Everyone is aligned and committed to the team goal.
- 7E2iv. Team members feel empowered.
- 7E2v. Team members are able to prevent conflicts or resolve those that do arise.
- 7E2vi. There is a sense of accomplishing something important.
- 7E2vii. There is a strong sense of mutual trust.
7E3. There are four stages of team development all teams must go through to become high performing.
7E4. Forming is the stage in which team members first come together.
- 7E4i. During this stage, the team leader should:
  - 7E4ia. Ensure the right team members are on the team.
  - 7E4ib. Facilitate the kick-off process.
  - 7E4ic. Explain the vision, mission, and goals/objectives of the team.
- 7E4ii. During this stage, team members should:
  - 7E4iia. Start to develop relationships with other team members.
  - 7E4iib. Define the scope of work the team needs to produce.
7E5. Storming is the stage in which the team works through the “who, what, how, and when”. This is often when conflicts begin to arise.
- 7E5i. During this stage, the team leader should:
  - 7E5ia. Facilitate collaborative planning methods, which help to avoid unproductive storming and to produce a realistic plan.
  - 7E5ib. Help the team resolve team and content conflicts.
- 7E5ii. During this stage, the team members should:
  - 7E5iia. Resolve personality conflicts.
  - 7E5iib. Resolve team and content conflicts.
  - 7E5iic. Participate in the planning process.
7E6. Norming is the stage in which the team starts doing the work while continuing to resolve conflicts.
- 7E6i. During this stage, the team leader should:
  - 7E6ia. Keep the team engaged in making decisions and solving problems.
  - 7E6ib. Build trust and esteem within the team.
  - 7E6ic. Recognize contributions.
  - 7E6id. Help the team to make course corrections as needed.
- 7E6ii. During this stage, team members should:
  - 7E6iia. Continue to build relationships.
  - 7E6iib. Stay on track – helping to make course corrections as needed.
  - 7E6iic. Learn they can depend on the team leader and on each other.
7E7. Performing (high performing) is the stage in which the team is executing and delivering results with a high level of collaboration and mutual support.
- 7E7i. During this stage, both the team leader and team member continue the things they have done in norming but also learn they can weather any crisis together.
7E8. Mourning is the last stage and kicks in when a team is going to be disbanded. Team members must let go and move on.
7E9. There are several critical elements for creating high-performing teams:
- 7E9i. Team size is kept to no more than 10 people.
  - 7E9ia. As team size grows, so does the number and complexity of the relationships an individual must develop and manage.
- 7E9ii. Structured collaborative methodologies are used to get the work done.
  - 7E9iia. When structured collaborative methods are used, not only does the team own what it has created, decided, developed, etc., but leaders have the best information at hand for developing their plans.
- 7E9iii. The team leader is skilled in facilitation, negotiation, selling, people management, communications, etc.
  - 7E9iiia. Since there is no authority on the team, the team leader must be able to lead the team through processes that result in getting the work done, developing productive relationships, and fulfilling accountability with win-win results.
- 7E9iv. The team has clear direction for the work as well as the resources required to get the job done.
  - 7E9iva. The only way to create alignment is to have clear direction about what is needed.
  - 7E9ivb. Having the required resources ensures that the team can deliver the outcomes it commits to.
- 7E9v. The team members on the team have the skills to do the work.
  - 7E9va. The only way to produce results that meet customer requirements is to have team members with the skills to do the work.
- 7E9vi. The team members on the team have been trained in how to work together as a team.
  - 7E9via. Working together as a team is different than working in one-on-one relationships. Team members need team skills if they are to be successful in a matrix.
7E10. Recognize and celebrate
- 7E10i. Recognize accomplishments made by team members to help build enthusiasm for the job at hand.
- 7E10ii. Reward actions that prevent problems as well as the actions that address a crisis.
7E11. The following principles of collaborative leadership enable leaders to develop high-performing teams:
- 7E11i. People own what they participate in creating.
  - 7E11ia. Leaders create opportunities for people to participate.
  - 7E11ib. Leaders let go of trying to control others.
  - 7E11ic. Leaders manage processes, not people.
- 7E11ii. Team members need to understand the purpose of the work.
  - 7E11iia. People are inspired by what is meaningful to them.
- 7E11iii. Team members that understand how the parts of the work fit together are more committed to making the work successful.
- 7E11iv. Team buy-in is increased if team members work from shared information.
- 7E11v. The team environment must be built on mutual trust and respect.
- 7E11vi. Each person is an individual, with individual needs and individual approaches to learning, processes, problem solving, etc. Individual differences should be respected.
- 7E11vii. Appreciation should be shown for the contributions of each individual on the team and for the team as a whole.
  - 7E11viia. Efforts not recognized are work instead of passion.
  - 7E11viib. Recognize and appreciate frequently.

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