High performing teams are created and nurtured
You don’t accidentally end up with a high performing team. It takes intention and leaders who are willing to:
Create clarity around purpose and direction
Set expectations around behaviour and standards
Invest time in building trust and connection
Encourage challenge, not avoid it
Hold people accountable, properly
And importantly, it takes time and investment to create the space for teams to think, reflect, connect and improve together.
Too many teams are stuck in delivery mode, constantly doing, reacting, firefighting, hanging on in there. As one Director of a Company for whom I started to work, said… ‘we are too busy to take time out for silly discussions.’ She went on to say the engagement was lower than hoped, as was customer NPS and staff turnover was increasing.
Teams can improve performance and culture, by simply taking the time to step back (maybe even stop) and ask…
How well are we actually working together?
Where are we getting in our own way?
What do we need to change to perform better?
The real gains are made here, in these conversations, connections, alignment and agreed actions.