High-performing teams are 20% more profitable, productive, and make their customers satisfied. [Aon]

And with these facts, it must be no surprise to know that these teams significantly impact an organization's performance and output!

Successful teams are the biggest assets of a business. How do you build such high performing teams? Let us find out together!

High performing teams achieve goals seamlessly.

These teams work hard to achieve goals.

They usually produce outstanding outcomes.

High performing teams leverage each member's abilities, talents, and perspectives to bring out the best in them.

These high performing teams communicate flawlessly and pass information without any of it getting lost. Members of such a team share ideas, concerns, and constructive criticism through honest communication.

Communication builds team trust, which is essential to collaboration. Both the members and the team are responsible for their work and advancement.

Performance management helps firms establish and retain high performing teams.

It includes procedures to ensure employee contributions to the team and corporate goals. High performing teams use goals (and KPIs) to manage performance.

These teams focus on realistic, yet ambitious goals, fostering a sense of purpose and direction.

• Regular, constructive feedback and performance reviews help identify areas for improvement and celebrate achievements. This approach encourages continuous growth and collaboration.
• Celebrating successes boosts engagement and acknowledges hard work, driving further achievement.
• Effective performance management relies on clear, open communication. Regular check-ins and transparent discussions enable problem-solving and idea sharing.

For teams to thrive, performance management should also include ongoing training and development opportunities. This ensures teams remain adaptable and their skills are up-to-date.

Here are 10 simple steps on how to build high-performing teams.

A coordinated team has specific and clear goals. Teams work better with such goals rather than vague ones.

SMART goals—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound—are often used by high performing teams. They help teams achieve their goals seamlessly.

Regular sharing of these goals also helps motivate others.

Therefore, regularly setting goals, reviewing, and reiterating goals can help teams operate better and achieve high-performance.

Successful teams operate best when everyone knows what they're supposed to do. To avoid confusion and overlapping tasks, it's crucial to clearly define each team member's role, tasks, and expected outcomes.

Keep these roles flexible enough to adapt to project shifts or to leverage individual strengths.

Conversations about work should be clear, ensuring everyone understands their responsibilities.

Open communication builds excellent teams.

It lets teammates share their worries and doubts. Inform team members of meetings, reports, and feedback at all times through email threads and other communication platforms.

Listening to coworkers allows the resolution of issues swiftly and leads to improvement. Diverse perspectives promote cooperation among team members as well. Multiple communication channels simplify information sharing in remote teams.

Creative, helpful workplaces have strong team cultures. Set corporate ideals that encourage teamwork and success. Encourage kindness, respect, and mutual assistance.

Celebrate achievements whether little or small to motivate employees. Acknowledge negative feedback swiftly to focus on the next big thing. Openness and diversity make team members feel valued and respected. 

A high performing team is built on a solid foundation of trust. Being honest, competent, and trustworthy builds trust among members of a team. Discuss your successes and failures openly to aid in this. Help team members express themselves by encouraging vulnerability.

Positive conflict resolution helps teams overcome obstacles. Make fair, consistent decisions to create team trust. Victories motivate and build trust. Emphasize that one team member's success impacts everyone in a good way to encourage teamwork. Frequent group activities increase teamwork and trust.

Collaboration creates winning teams. Promote a team-oriented mentality so everyone knows the value of working together to achieve goals. Remember everyone's success rather than celebrate the successes of a few people.

Create collaborative sites and technologies for knowledge sharing and decision-making. Share team knowledge and skills. Encourage collaboration and learning from other departments' skills and perspectives. 

No matter how efficient a team is, it needs the right amount of resources to function properly.

It can be the right software, enough technology, and a workable budget. With the right resources by the side, teams need no worry about these aspects, giving them a chance to focus completely on the task at hand. 

There is nothing wrong in spending time and energy on team building. These activities generate a sense of unity. Create frequent team-building activities to communicate, collaborate, and problem-solve.

Plan professional and social activities to balance work and life. Customizing events to team preferences and collaboration makes them attractive.

Trusting team members to make sector decisions empowers them. Allow team members to lead projects using their abilities. Effective power delegation can hold individuals responsible. Understanding corporate rules and practices helps with this.

Celebrate good decisions made by the team members. Promote creativity and leadership to enable team members to explore their skills and talent. Regularly adjust authority for project needs and abilities. More responsibility instills job pride, boosting team morale and productivity.

Team success requires constant learning and growth. Give employees a chance to develop their careers with training. Help your employees adapt to industry changes. Help individuals learn from challenges and attempt new things. Mentoring groups and team members should share expertise. 

High-performing teams stand out by their ability to consistently achieve goals and deliver exceptional results. Below are the key traits that these teams share:

1. Clearly Established Goals

• Purpose-Driven Objectives: High-performing teams are united by clear, measurable goals that align with the company’s mission. This clarity guides team members towards success, providing a clear direction for their efforts.
• Commitment to Goals: Understanding and committing to these objectives ensure that every team member's work directly contributes to the team’s targets. A focused and goal-oriented team maintains its direction and motivation.

2. Strong Leadership

• Inspirational Leaders: Leaders of high-performance teams are more than managers; they are sources of inspiration who embody the team's values and ethics. They encourage an environment where everyone feels valued and supported.
• Vision Alignment: Effective leaders ensure the team’s goals resonate with each member’s personal aspirations, fostering innovation, risk-taking, and advancement.

Also read: Top 10 Qualities of a Good Manager

3. Communication Transparency

• Open Exchange: These teams thrive on transparency, where information, ideas, and feedback flow freely. This openness fosters trust and collaboration among members.
• Constructive Dialogue: Discussing mistakes openly leads to learning and improvement, while transparent communication and regular feedback propel the team forward.

4. Mutual Trust and Respect

• Reliable Relationships: Trust within high-performing teams grows from consistent reliability, experience, and integrity. This trust encourages the free exchange of ideas and supports taking calculated risks.
• Inclusive Respect: Respecting diverse viewpoints and valuing each contribution cultivates a culture of inclusiveness and mutual respect, enhancing the team's cohesion.

5. Decision-Making Effectiveness

• Collaborative Decisions: Effective teams make decisions based on diverse inputs, thorough analysis, and a collective approach. This process embraces creativity and constructive debate.
• Agile Responses: Valuing agility, these teams are prepared to make and adapt decisions swiftly, learning from both successes and failures to face future challenges confidently.

These characteristics define high-performing teams, setting them apart in their capacity to navigate challenges, adapt to change, and achieve outstanding outcomes together.

Ready for Business Growth?

If you provide the right circumstances and environment for your teams to function efficiently, sooner than later, they will transform into high-performing teams.  High-performance technology and tools help your company get to the next level.

ThriveSparrow is an excellent tool to help nurture high performance teams as it provides customized rapid surveys and analytical reporting.