What is High Team Performance?

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The fifth and final conversation center of our team performance model is Measure.  When I ask leaders how they judge the performance of their team, they typically talk about business results.  They are important, but in my opinion, an incomplete measure of team performance.

Rhythm of Team Conversation Model
Rhythm of Team Conversation Model – © 2017 Jennifer Nash & Andy Robbins

Defining Team Performance

Business measures are critical.  If we are not creating value for our customers then I question the purpose of the team.  Teams exist to generate value.  We are talking about value in the eyes of the customer, what about value for the team members?  If team members don’t receive value beyond monetary reward, work becomes meaningless and can lead to boredom and burn out.

Value for Team Members

Two other generic measures define the value of a team.  The first is team member satisfaction.  Is this is a fun team to be a member of?  Do I feel positively challenged and supported?  Are we making a difference and creating impact?  These questions are key if we want to have a team of committed people, key for a high performing team.

The last generic team performance measure is growth.   Are we learning and growing; becoming a group of people more capable of taking effective action together?   This includes learning how to ‘team’, the interpersonal skills of working together on this team and ones in the future.

Balance

By defining goals for your team in each of these three categories you will maximize the value generated by your team now and into the future.  I am sure you’ve been on a team that worked really hard, got results but did so by driving the team into the ground.   Team members come away exhausted, disillusioned, fearful, etc.  Participating on these types of teams is not sustainable, and without a balance of measures, it is an easy trap to fall into.

Team Learning

By measuring progress to goals regularly and generously we create a learning environment.  Regularity is important to keep the goals and your purpose top of mind.  We face so many distractions every day, it can be hard to stay focused.  Measuring generously describes entering into the conversation with the intent to use it to generate learning and growth.  This includes being willing to offer help, focusing on the issue not the person and holding an after action review  to capture learning.  If done well, it turns issues into learning events the team embraces rather than tries to avoid.

How are you measuring the performance of your team?  What are you learning?

Comments (4)

Great insight Andy, as always.

Thank you Randy, it is so easy to lose sight of the importance of the team’s learning, growth and personal satisfaction.

Before engaging in the conversation, I just wanna say that you can’t consider the 2 terms i.e high-team performance and high-performance team as same prospects. Although there is some mutual connection in between these two expressions, still they are partly different from each other. Well, in this context, I can say that the phrase ‘high team performance’ refers to the team whose performance is outstanding. In fact, a high performing team is a troupe that can charge you up with energy while executing your task. To deliver high team performance, each member has to work towards the same objective. They must carry their own regard and know how to work together to attain the target. Moreover, I can say that the character of each bracket defines the team which takes the plunge into success in terms of clarity, and trust.

Hi Patrick, thank you for the comment. I think I understand your point. It is possible to achieve a good business outcome from a team that is not performing well. In this instance they could be on the point of breakdown and they are driven by fear to get the job done. They will not be able to sustain the performance over time. By measuring both business results and team health, you will guard against such an outcome. Did I understand your point correctly?

Thanks.

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