How does a High-Performance Team, work?

The team-building method I have developed is a new Management model named 'High-Performance Management and Teams' (Futcher Principle™). It is a bespoke approach to building and managing High-Performance Teams developed from over 40 years of IT Management consulting and team building.

High-Performance Teams differ from ordinary teams in that.

  • Their capability and productivity are substantially higher than ordinary teams.

  • They can execute more quickly, make better decisions and solve more complex problems.

  • They thrive on change; excel at nearly everything they do and are true innovators.

  • They are objectively more focused than ordinary teams in the way they work together.

  • They are consistently aware of the broader organisational aspirations and needs with everything they do.

  • They measure their performance, self-correct as needed and welcome any Team Members opinion of how an individual or the whole team can do better.

  • They are expert resource managers and have highly developed time management skills.

  • They have a greater sense of commitment towards the common goal and individual performance goals.

  • They understand that it is a partnership where Team Members actively work to ensure everyone's success.

  • They are highly disciplined with a focus on mutual accountability.

  • They fix problems once.

  • They have superior people Leadership skills.

  • They support and motivate all around them with equal measure.

  • Their loyalty is exceptionally high.

These are bold statements, to some they may seem implausible if not impossible, but they are nonetheless an accurate reflection of how a High-Performance Team works.

How does this come about?

As we know, busy people do more and do it in less time. The secret to an ordinary team transitioning to High-Performance is the application of a high workload in conjunction with High-Performance Management Practices, Behaviours and Techniques.

“Without a consistently high workload, a High-Performance Team will simply not perform as designed or expected. Like Formula 1 cars, the fuel for a High-Performance Team is workload.”

We know from our own experience that when we have a lot to do and are pushed for time, we focus on the essential elements of the activity or task at hand. We often accept that having completed 80% of the work (80/20 principle) that this is usually enough to finish, and we then quickly move on to the next piece of work. Take a well-planned and managed Project as an example; 20% of the expended project effort can produce 80% of the project deliverables.

High-Performance Teams work this way. A high workload forces Team Members to identify and focus their efforts on the 20% of the workload that can produce 80% of the desired results, meaning greater efficiency and higher productivity.

This approach is then supported by High-Performance Management Practices, Behaviours and Techniques. When these three methods are combined, this causes all of those involved to become more reliant on each other, more trusting, more committed and mutually accountable for the whole of the team's workload. The higher the workload, the more the three elements come into play, resulting in actual High-Performance operation.

This approach enforces adherence to due process, facilitates true collaboration, gets more people involved with a task when necessary, each of whom is committed to its success, and it forges closer work bonds and a prevailing attitude of 'all for one and one for all' (Mutual Accountability). As more work is undertaken, the new methods become normalised or habitual, and new levels of performance start to emerge.

Performance and productivity receive an added boost when multiple Team Members or whole teams are focused on the same activities/tasks which works exceptionally well for businesses that require more than one team to be involved with the same activity/task, such as an IT Department or Engineering works.

As more work is processed, and as more successes and fewer failures are realised, the team's confidence increases, and the ability to manage an increasing workload results.

Things start to change. Morale significantly improves, job satisfaction goes up, quality improves with fewer errors and failures occurring, innovation emerges, and a feeling of actually being a contributor to business growth becomes tangible. The team is no-longer ordinary, it is now a High-Performance Team, and its Team Members know and feel it.

Sample outcomes.

  • The team's focus and orientation are now directed towards achieving business aspirations such as growth and market position.

  • Defined team rules and a set of acceptable behaviours are in place.

  • Communication at all levels has advanced, only honest, timely and high-value information is being exchanged.

  • Due process is in place to lock down tactical/operational and administrative activities leaving Team Members and their staff free to concentrate on strategic business growth activities.

  • The team is now using specific Management Practices, Behaviours and Techniques which are being pushed down to all staff.

  • Meetings are now informative, shorter, more focussed, and people more happily attend.

Two High-Performance different perspectives.

Scott Keller and Mary Meaney in 'Leading Organisations: Ten Timeless Truths' states that.

  • Over a decade they asked more than 5000 executives to think about their "peak experience" as a Team Member and to write down the word or words that describe that environment. The results are remarkably consistent and reveal three key dimensions of great teamwork.

  • The first is alignment on direction, where there is a shared belief about what the company is striving toward and the role of the team in getting there.

  • The second is high-quality interaction, characterised by trust, open communication, and a willingness to embrace conflict.

  • The third is a strong sense of renewal, meaning an environment in which Team Members are energised because they feel they can take risks, innovate and learn from outside ideas.

Prachi Juneja of Dun & Bradstreet states that.

  • Everyone on the team talks and listens in roughly equal measure, keeping contributions short and sweet.

  • Members face one another, and their conversations and gestures are energetic.

  • Members connect directly with one another—not just with the team leader.

  • Members carry on back-channel or side conversations within the team.

  • Members periodically break, go exploring outside the team, and bring information back.

  • Current team structures have lost this focus, they are silo driven, obsessed with project-based delivery, suffer from poorly integrated processes and are unable to rapidly respond to changing business technologies and the need to be more competitive.

High-Performance Management and Teams

I have experience across 11 teams. That may not seem like very many, but given the rarity of actual High-Performance Teams, it is, in fact, a lot and places me high on the experience scale.

To transition to High-Performance, Team Members need to learn.

  • A new way of managing that for most Team Members will be the first time they will have received any formal management training.

  • New Behaviours, that is ways of acting and conducting themselves.

  • And new Techniques, which are specifically aimed at improving time management, productivity, efficiency and innovation.

The 'High-Performance Management and Teams' (Futcher Principle™) is demonstrably different from the High-Performance Team training that is marketed by the Training Industry.

Most Training Industry courses run for a week, or in some cases a month's worth of facilitation. You cannot transition a team to a High-Performance level in a week; it's nonsense. It takes on average six months assuming a one-hour Workshop per week. It requires a dedicated and passionate Team Leader/Manager to drive the team development process which can easily be self-managed or facilitated or in combination.

A typical one-week Training Industry course includes.

  • Training for the Team Leader/Manager, not the whole team.

  • Common Goal.

  • Performance Goals.

  • Trust.

  • Common work approach.

  • Communication.

  • Roles and Responsibilities.

These are essential characteristics, but they are grossly insufficient when it comes to true High-Performance. At best, a Training Industry course will take a good team and make it better. Unfortunately, the benefits are often not sustainable; they tend to wither and fade away after three to six months which can disillusion a team and do more harm than good.

High-Performance Management and Teams (Futcher Principle™) include.

Team Member Evaluation.

  • Team Leader/Manager Profile.

  • Team Members.

  • Performance managing people out.

  • Recruitment.

Team Initiation.

  • Introduction to High-Performance Teams.

  • What kind of team are we now?

  • Creating a team common goal.

  • Setting team performance goals.

  • Clearly defining roles/responsibilities.

  • Reviewing Process and Intranet.

Management Style.

  • Crafting a management style.

  • Practice support and motivation.

  • The six key inter-personal skills.

Management Practices.

  • Weekly Management Team Meeting.

  • Mentoring.

  • Managers Toolkit.

  • Staff Survey.

  • Customer Survey.

  • Process and Intranet.

Team Behaviours.

  • The six key interpersonal skills.

  • Definition of Team Professionalism.

  • Development of team rules.

  • Agreeing on team behaviours.

  • Clearly defining roles and responsibilities.

  • Putting in place conflict resolution.

  • A decision-making Process.

  • Accepting mutual accountability.

  • Exercising mutual commitment and trust is.

  • Shared Leadership.

Team Techniques.

  • Time management skills.

  • Open communication.

  • Using the 80/20 principle.

  • Having a go.

  • Smart email.

  • Timeboxing.

  • The half-pager.

  • Problem-solving.

  • Creation and innovation.

  • Continuous Learning.

Workload Management.

  • Completing team building.

  • Workload management.

  • Increasing the workload.

  • Empowerment.

  • Conclusion.

Team characteristics.

Management style.

A high-performance management style focuses heavily on professionalism, people development and business performance.

Team meetings.

Management Team and Team Members weekly meetings that make use of a common agenda with rules of behaviour.

Common goal.

Gives direction to all team actions and acts as a measure of success after a task is complete.

Assist others with work.

After completion of their work, each Team Member should be willing to assist other Team Members with the completion of their work.

Defined roles/responsibilities.

When Team Members know what their roles and responsibilities are and how they support the team, and how they contribute to the success and results of the team, this produces greater job satisfaction and commitment.

Mutual accountability.

Team Members must accept that they are accountable to each other, which guarantees better performance and excellence in teamwork.

Mutual trust.

High-performance Team Members have great trust in and mutual respect for their colleagues' ability. Everyone values and supports each other, and feedback is welcomed.

Open communication.

Keeping each other appraised on important matters, sharing fears and seeking counselling from each other. It is a higher form of communication-based on trust and mutual respect.

Common behaviours and rules.

An agreed set of team behaviours and rules.

Shared leadership.

The whole team decides everything together, the behaviour of an experienced high-performance team. Also, different Team Members take turns in being a task owner and leader as the expert in a field.

Conflict management.

No team can progress until all Team Members believe that they have a voice that is heard. The team must settle and decide between competing ideas.

Decision-Making Process.

A good decision-making process can be used to diffuse conflict. Team Members should agree on a method for the team to adopt.

Time management.

Using techniques like the 80/20 principle, Mandatory, High-Desirable and Nice to Have, Smart email and Timeboxing.

Process.

Accept the need for all work to be process-driven, locking down the operational environment, reducing the number of operational resources, freeing up those resources to work on strategic initiatives.

Why are High-Performance Teams so rare?

  • They probably exist as only 1:100 teams; there are no actual statistics.

  • When first experimented within the 1980s and '90s, they produced poor outcomes; however, a lot has changed since then.

  • There is a mythology that they are too hard to build.

  • Managers are not trained in the new Progressive Management models or paradigms. Many managers are not trained at all. 

  • A perception that they do not fit in with Traditional (hierarchical, command and control) Management models where they actually coexist exceptionally well.

  • Organisations like Kraft Foods, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Newcrest Mining, Exelon, and the US and British governments are increasingly turning their attention to them.

A High-Performance Team Leader needs.

  • Personal/career aspirations.

  • A team vision, common goal or organisational aspirations.

  • A High-Performance Management Style, Behaviours and Techniques.

What's in it for the Team Leader?

  • Significantly increased job satisfaction.

  • More expansive career opportunities.

  • Working with loyal, supportive, trustworthy people who over time, become increasingly better at whatever is being done.

  • Becoming an employer of choice.

  • A life experience.

What's in it for the Team Members?

  • Happiness stems from spending time with people we like and High-Performance Team Members care and support their colleagues like no other Team Members.

  • They can expect significant job satisfaction, more expansive career opportunities, comradery, being the best in their field, a good lifestyle.

  • Working with people who are loyal, supportive and trustworthy, where there are professional development and acquisition of new management skills.

  • Over time becoming increasingly better at whatever is being done, and the ability to overachieve in comparison to others.

What's in it for the organisation?

  • Profits, ability to rapidly expand, market growth, having a Team that focuses on business needs.

  • Staff loyalty, being an employer of choice, reduced costs and vastly improved product quality and service delivery.

A good description of a high-performance team comes from an excellent work by Katzenbach, J. R. and Smith, D.K. (1993), The Wisdom of Teams. They state: “A high-performance team is a small group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they are mutually accountable.”

Summary.

There is a lot of information about building High-Performance Teams. Much of it is academic describing team characteristics and outcomes, but nearly all failing to tell you exactly how to go about building a team.

High-Performance Management and Teams (Futcher Principle™) is a spells step by step approach that has been used many times. It uses a complete set of training materials and explains how to use them in a workshop setting. It provides the ability to determine a realistic development timeframe and how you can vary it to suit your situation.

Much of the information about High-Performance Teams is merely wrong. Most of it is a pure myth or suggests that it is unattainable or is the purvey of only the largest corporations. The training industry doesn't help either, advertising High-Performance Team training courses that run for a week, nonsense. You can teach adults new skills in a week but not behaviours or the embedding of new thinking.

You can either keep managing the way you are or look for a new approach. Successful management regimes of the past helped create today's organisations that now defy Traditional management models. Organisations using Progressive management models have flatter organisation charts; intricate matrixed reporting lines, many horizontal interdependencies; and employees who know their jobs, goals and competitors better than they did decades ago.

In a market in which change is speeding up, the incentive for business to review its approach to management has never been greater. High-Performance Management and Teams (Futcher Principle™) is a proven solution to today's and tomorrow's management challenges.

For me, the most exciting thing about implementing this approach is seeing the hidden talent and passion that emerges and the job satisfaction that follows. It's people reactions that have inspired me to write this book. People are so full of surprises and truly amazing in what they can do when released from an unhealthy (either stressed, overly complicated, poorly managed or non-supportive) workplace. High-Performance is within reach of nearly everyone, I know, I have proved it.

“A unique experience that connects people for the rest of your life.” - Chris Judd, AFL Premiership Team.


You can share this Blog by using the buttons below.

You can follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Medium and Slideshare.