High-performing teams consistently smash targets and get great results. But how do they do it? As a team leader or HR manager, there are some key steps you can take to ensure your team is set up for success. Use this helpful guide to find out what they are and how everyone can benefit.
High-performing teams are the kinds of teams that:
This is done by balancing a diverse mix of skills, perspectives, and competence to create a culture based on honesty, psychological safety, and, most importantly, success.
Although a team can become temporarily high-performing under stress, if high performance comes at a cost to employees, momentum runs out fast. True high-performing teams strive for success safely and gradually, in a way that protects wellbeing and avoids burnout.
While many teams experience periods of great results, achieving them consistently isn’t easy. One of the biggest reasons why high-performing teams have become rarer and rarer is that creating a high-performance team requires commitment, and many companies feel they simply don’t have the time or energy to spare.
An employer might think it’s best to hold off on training because teams are stretched too thin, or to put staff mental health on the back burner to make more time for projects that guarantee big financial returns. The issue with this thinking, though, is that pushing harder without addressing the fundamentals only perpetuates the cycle of poor performance. We know that leadership training boosts job performance by 20%. We also know that one in four employees believes their job harms both their mental and physical wellbeing. If we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, it becomes obvious that avoiding these investments doesn’t save time – it guarantees the very struggles companies are trying to escape.
So, beyond results, what are the key traits of high-performing teams? Here’s how to spot a team set up for success:
What can you do to build your own high-performing team? Here are our top tips:
Psychological safety and inclusion go hand in hand. Staff should feel comfortable contributing and speaking out in a workplace where they feel valued and respected, regardless of their background, abilities, or personal circumstances. Part of creating a more inclusive team is openly talking about and celebrating diversity. This not only creates a dynamic, welcoming environment for everyone, but it also promotes a mix of perspectives and experiences that strengthen the team and improve performance.
Everyone has different skills and strengths to bring to the table, and as a team leader or HR manager, it’s up to you to identify these so that you can create a harmonious balance. This starts during the hiring process. Any job advert you create needs to properly reflect the type of person you need for the team, based upon the skills or experience that may be lacking overall. If you hire someone without the right skillset, you risk creating an imbalance, which can impact performance.
Staff who are supported and encouraged to do well achieve far more than those who are beaten down or receive no investment from management. Get to know each employee’s interests and improvement areas, and work with them to create plans for progress. This will make them feel valued and spur them on to put in that extra bit of effort.
Regular training is vital for retaining knowledge, developing skills, and staying up-to-date with important industry practices. When you put training lower down in your priority list, you not only deprive staff of the opportunity to learn and do their jobs, but you also risk hampering performance by leaving staff feeling unsupported. When staff are left to ‘wing it’ or work things out on their own, it can cause frustration and overwhelm – two things you want to avoid if high performance is your aim.
Time and time again, we hear that employee wellbeing matters. And there’s a reason why: burnt-out, miserable staff are not going to get you the results that you crave. Understanding employee wellbeing and taking it seriously means checking in with each and every one of your staff members regularly, learning about their individual difficulties or sources of stress (the diathesis-stress model can be helpful for this), and acting upon your promises to be there. You could start a wellbeing group to chat through difficulties, arrange an employee assistance programme to give staff extra support, or set up a mental health day each month where you focus on activities that promote positive wellbeing. These things work. But you have to make time for them.
In many ways, high-performing teams are easier to manage. When the whole team consistently operates at a high level, managing tasks autonomously, working together harmoniously, and keeping each other motivated all becomes second nature. But how do you make sure you can maintain that high performance? Simple. You reward staff for their hard work and effort. When things are going well, it can be easy to become complacent and assume that staff no longer need encouragement or praise. But things can quickly change. As well as verbally showing your appreciation, offer small perks like company away days or meals out. This will help to keep morale high and show staff that their high performance hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Those in charge have a responsibility to maintain performance with consistent monitoring and adjustments. To keep your team on track, stay on top of both collective and individual progress using measurement tools like personal development plans, KPIs, and project management software. Taking a dual approach will ensure you’re capturing the full picture of how your team is progressing.
As you track performance, stay alert to areas that need improvement. Has a skill gap emerged? Is a process slowing things down? Has there been a dip in morale? Catching these issues early will help you to make smart decisions before small problems become bigger obstacles.
Finally, remember that high-performing teams aren’t made overnight. They require patience, sustained effort, and shared commitment. If you focus on making gradual improvements, celebrate small wins along the way, and trust that meaningful change will come, your team will achieve (and sustain) the kind of success that sets you apart.
Our small but mighty team builds leading-edge software that people love. We pride ourselves on a user-led approach to product design. The voice of the customer shapes what we create and that’s exactly how great assistive tech should be made.
