DEVELOPING HIGH

-PERFORMANCE TEAM
High Performance (HP)
Teams
A group of people who
share a common vision,
goals, metrics and who
collaborate, challenge and
hold each other accountable
to achieve outstanding
results.
 High Performance Team
Concepts
• Team Charter
• Team Norms
• Sense of urgency
• Chaos
• Community of interest
• Resources
• Self-directed Teams
• Empowered Teams
TEAM CHARTER
A team charter is a
written document that
defines the team's
mission, scope of
operation, objectives,
time frame, and
consequences.
 TEAM NORMS
• Norms are the rules that the team agrees
to follow as it conducts its work.
• Norms may be written or may evolve as
unwritten understandings over time.
• The establishment and adherence to
team norms helps build team discipline,
trust between team members, and
supports a safe environment.
 Sense of urgency
• High Performance Teams need to work under
a deadline for achieving objectives.
• Deadlines create a energy building sense of
team commitment toward getting results. In
short, they drive the team to perform.
• An atmosphere of urgency will cause team's
to start to experiment with problem solving.
Though they rarely hit on the correct or best
answer on the first attempt, the very process
of trying will invariably lead to new learning,
further innovation, and enhanced
performance.
 Chaos
• Chaos is a necessary step that has to
be experienced as the old order is
abandoned and the new order is
determined.
• When people work together to create
a new order such as operating as High
Performance Team they will have to
experience the discomfort and chaos
of letting go of the old ways and
learning the new.
 Community of
interest
• When a team is commissioned it is
often made up of a group of
representatives from different parts
of the organization. Each person
may be a subject matter expert who
understands the processes and
activities within a department or a
different part of a cross-functional
process.
 HP TEAM
RESOURCES
Resources are :
• Time
• Talents
• Money
• Information
• Materials
CHARACTERISTICS OF HP
TEAMS
• Have a clear and vision of where they are
headed and what they want to accomplish
• Are excited about that vision because they
took part in creating it
• Act from clearly defined priorities
• Have clear measures of success and receive
feedback about how they’re doing
CHARACTERISTICS OF HP
TEAMS

• Maintain open communication and positive

relationships with each other
• Identify and solve problems
• Make decisions when and where they occur
• Successfully manage conflict
CHARACTERISTICS OF HP
TEAMS
• Share leadership responsibilities
• Participate in productive meetings
• Have clearly defined roles and work
procedures
• Cooperate cross-functionally
 TEAM LEARNING

High Performance Team has a lot to learn:

• how to work together
• how to make team decisions
• how to develop and enforce norms, as
well as the capabilities, talents, and skills
of each fellow team member
 HP ESSENTIAL
ELEMENTS
Shared Vision
High performance Teams have developed a
vision that brings real meaning to the work
that is being performed.
Time Oriented
The team operates under specific deadlines
for achieving results. Teams that operate
without deadlines will ultimately evolve into
rap sessions.
 HP ESSENTIAL
ELEMENTS
Communication
Uses all communication vehicles available to get new
information to every team member.
Zone of Concern
When a team operates in the concern zone, between
its comfort zone and perhaps its anxiety zone, it is
most likely to perform better and consequently bond
better and become stronger when it does achieve
results.
 HP ESSENTIAL
ELEMENTS
Reviews Quality
the team internalizes its learning and
improves its collective performance.
Involves Everyone
Every team member has a unique insight or
contribution it can make towards team goal
achievement.
 HP ESSENTIAL
ELEMENTS
Self-Directed
The "How the work is to be accomplished"
must remain the sole purview of the team.
Celebrates Success
Celebrations build-up the team's morale and
increase the teams determination to achieve
the ultimate goal.
 Diversity of
Perspective
 Some team members will be
needed who are primarily
oriented towards task and target
date accomplishment.
 Other team members will be
needed who hold process,
planning, organization and
methods in the highest regard.
 Diversity of
Perspective
 Teams also need members who
nurture, encourage and provide
communication nodes. Otherwise,
anarchy and intense frustration can
result as individuals demand that
"their way" is "the only way."
 Teams will certainly need some
members who are creative and
innovative. This quality is helpful
when product design, inspiration,
optimism or humor is needed.
 Diversity of
Perspective
 The last type of team member
needed by a High Performance
Team is a floater-someone who is
capable of identifying with all of
the above orientations and can
fill in when one of the viewpoints
is missing.
 EMPOWERED
TEAMS
• A team is empowered by virtue of
that power that is granted to it by
management. A team charter is a
very useful tool for helping a team
and management understand just
exactly what the team has power (or
is empowered) to do.
 Self-Directed Teams
Defined

Formal groups that complete an entire piece of work

requiring several interdependent tasks and have
substantial autonomy over the execution of these
tasks.
 SELF-DIRECTED TEAMS

• At the pinnacle of high

performance team operation
anyone on the team should be
able to lead the team and
everyone would feel comfortable
with that possibility.
Self-Directed Work Team
Attributes
Completes an
entire piece of
work

Receives team- Team assigns

level feedback tasks to
and rewards Self-Directed members
Work Teams

Responsible for Controls work

correcting input, flow, and
problems output
 SDWTs at Standard Motor
Products
• Standard Motor
Products successfully
introduced self-directed
work teams (SDWTs) at
its Kansas plant, but
some supervisors had
difficulty changing from
a command-and-control
to mentor/facilitator
management style.
 Challenges to SDWTs
Cross-cultural issues
– Difficult to implement in some cultures
Management resistance
– Concerned about losing power, status, jobs
– Shift from command/control to mentor/facilitator
Employee and labour union resistance
– Employees uncomfortable with new roles, skills
– Union concerns: More stress, lost work rules
 Virtual Teams
Defined
• Teams whose members operate
across space, time, and
organizational boundaries and are
linked through information
technologies to achieve
organizational tasks.
 Why Virtual Teams?
Increasingly possible because of
– Information technologies
– Knowledge-based work

Increasingly necessary because of

– Knowledge management
– Globalization
 High-Performance Virtual
Teams
Virtual teams perform better with:
Team • Creative combination of
Environment communication channels

• Structured tasks
Team Tasks • Moderate interdependence

• Smaller size than traditional

Team Size team performing similar tasks
High-Performance Virtual
Teams
Virtual teams perform better with
Team • Good communication and cross-
Composition cultural skills in team members

Team • Some face-to-face meetings to

Processes assist team development

• Important in all teams, but

Team Trust especially virtual teams
 TRUST, RESPECT and
SUPPORT
• Team members need to be coached in
the need to trust and support each
other.
• Support involves actively keeping an
eye on the other team members and
demonstrating a willingness to help
each other out when help is needed--
even when it might not be requested.
 Trust Defined
• A psychological state
comprising the intention to
accept vulnerability based upon
positive expectations of the
intent or behavior of another
person.
Three Levels of Trust
High
Identity-based Trust

Knowledge-based Trust

Calculus-based Trust
Low
 Three Levels of Trust
Calculus-based trust
– Based on deterrence
– Fragile, limited, dependent on punishment
Knowledge-based trust
– Based on predictability and competence
– Fairly robust, develops over time
Identification-based trust
– Based on common mental models and values
– Increases with person’s social identity with team
 Propensity to Trust
• Some people are inherently more willing to
trust others
• Propensity to trust influenced by personality,
values, and socialization experiences
• Also varies with emotions at the moment
 Swift Trust in Teams
• People typically join a virtual or conventional
team with a moderate or high level of trust
• Explanations for this swift trust:
– people usually believe their teammates are
reasonably competent (knowledge-based
trust)
– people tend to develop some degree of social
identify with the team
• But swift trust is fragile
 Team Decision Making
Constraints
• Time constraints
– Time to organize/coordinate
– Production blocking
• Evaluation apprehension
– Belief that other team members are silently
evaluating you
• Conformity to peer pressure
– Suppressing opinions that oppose team norms
Team Constraints: Group think

Tendency in highly cohesive teams to value

consensus at the price of decision quality
More common when the
– Team is highly cohesive
– Team is isolated from outsiders
– Team leader is opinionated
– Team faces external threat
– Team has recent failures
– Team lacks clear guidance
Team Constraints: Group
Polarization
• Tendency for teams to make more
extreme decisions than individuals
alone
• Riskier options usually taken
because of prospect theory effect
fallacy -- dislike losing more than
they like winning
Group Polarization Process
Team discussion
processes

High risk High risk

Social support
Persuasive Individual opinions
arguments after meeting
Individual opinions
before meeting Shifting
responsibility
Low risk
Low risk
 General Guidelines for Team
Decisions
• Team norms should encourage critical thinking
• Sufficient team diversity
• Ensure neither leader nor any member
dominates
• Maintain optimal team size
• Introduce effective team structures
 Constructive Conflict

Occurs when team members debate their different

perceptions about an issue in a way that keeps the
conflict focused on the task rather than people.
Problem: constructive conflict easily slides into personal
attacks
 Rules of
Brainstorming
1. Speak freely
2. Don’t criticize
3. Provide as many ideas as
possible
4. Build on others’ ideas
 Evaluating Brainstorming
Strengths
– Produces more innovative ideas
– Strengthens decision acceptance and
team cohesiveness
– Sharing positive emotions encourages
creativity
– Higher customer satisfaction if clients
participate
 Evaluating Brainstorming

Weaknesses
–Production blocking exists
–Evaluation apprehension exists in
many groups
–Fewer ideas generated than when
people work alone
 Electronic Brainstorming
 Participants share ideas using software
 Usually in the same room, but may be
dispersed
 Question posted, then participants submit
their ideas or comments on computer
 Comments/ideas appear anonymously on
computer screens or at front of room
 Evaluating Electronic
Brainstorming
Strengths
– Less production blocking
– Less evaluation apprehension
– More creative synergy
– More satisfaction with process
Weaknesses
– Too structured
– Technology-bound
– Candid feedback is threatening
– Not applicable to all decisions
Nominal Group Technique
Individual Team Individual
Activity Activity Activity

Possible
Write down Vote on
Describe solutions
possible solutions
problem described
solutions presented
to others
 Team Building
 Any formal intervention directed
toward improving the
development and functioning of a
work team
 Accelerates team development
 Applied to existing teams that have
regressed in team development
Types of Team Building
• Role definition
• Goal setting
• Problem solving
• Interpersonal process
Benefits of Team Development
• Get the best results from team
leadership. The role of team leader is
crucial in managing a team for best
results.
• Work effectively across different business
units and geographic locations.
Benefits of Team Development

• Build a more collaborative culture. Teams that

build effective communication systems enjoy
stronger relationships and more trust.
• Get the right mix of skills in place. Team
leaders must deploy their resources carefully
to match people and skills with roles and
responsibilities.
Benefits of Team Development

• Sharpen your procedures and work

flow. How the team works is as
important as who does the work.
• Focus on measurable outcomes.
MDA consultants work directly with
CEOs, enterprise, and function
leaders to develop high performing
teams who are balanced in these
four key factors:
• Team leadership skills
• Purpose and Process
• Measures and Outcomes
• Team Relationships
 Making Team Building
Effective
Some team building activities are successful,
but just as many fail because:

• Team-building activities need to target

specific team problems
• Team building is a continuous process, not a
one-shot inoculation
• Team building needs to occur on-the-job, not
just away from the workplace