Following on from our article on building an A-Team we now move onto how to build a high-performance team.
Building a high-performance team comes down to just one thing, trust.
Special Forces teams are highly effective at what they do because of this one thing, the trust they have of their teammates.
If trust can be built with strangers from a myriad of backgrounds in the Special Forces, then how can a business learn from this and build a high-performance team in their own business?
And why would you want a high-performance team throughout every level of your business?
Many entrepreneurs want to skyrocket their business to the moon, a brace reach there, a handful may hit the stars but most don’t even manage to lift off.
There are a number of reasons for this, the biggest being that the entrepreneur themselves doesn’t have the skills, experience and capabilities to do everything needed. Or worse than this, they don’t know what is needed.
A true entrepreneur knows what is needed and whilst they may not have the skills, experience and capabilities, they are skilled enough to solve that problem and find others who can help.
I continually say entrepreneurs are merely problem solvers, this is what we do exceptionally well, within our businesses and for our customers. We solve problems, that’s all, period.
Whilst entrepreneurs may be able to solve problems, empowering a team is something that doesn’t come easily to most.
If you want to skyrocket your business, you need your A-Team around you.
And your A-Team needs to be a High-Performance Team.
This is where we work with Performance Coaches and Business Psychologists to help entrepreneurs to espouse a culture of high performance throughout their businesses in order to build a high-performance team.
The problems arise when entrepreneurs look to swipe the tactics employed by one organisation and deploy them on their own, hoping to replicate the success, rather than to start at the beginning and build their own culture.
But as we know, when Sir Clive Woodward moved into football as the Director of Football for Southampton, he didn’t quite replicate the success of England Rugby.
Taking the best from one team will never work with another team.
Building a high-performance team needs to start with you and specifically, why you do what you do.
To follow on from a previous success you need to understand the rules that were in place to build that success.
Here at Accentis we have just five rules that allow everyone to thrive:
- Shape the story. We’ve built our own story about why we do what we do. If you don’t recall why we do what we do then read this.
- Ask rather than tell. The power of asking ‘what would you do if you were me?’ empowers thinking and lets staff reach their own conclusion, which is usually well thought out and right.
- Allow ownership. When a decision is made then allow people to own that decision and to follow it through, let them become leaders.
- Embrace failure. The fear of the unknown and fear of failure stops things being done. If you don’t try new things and change and adapt, even if those things may fail, then you will never succeed.
- Hold each other accountable. If you do all of the above then your team can look each other in the eye and trust each other knowing that everyone is doing what they do for the right reasons.
It is the lack of trust throughout business that drives disengagement and this is borne through holding people accountable first without adopting the first four rules.
If you merely hold people accountable then you are looking to apportion blame. But if you engage people, if they understand your purpose, your ‘why’ and connect with that ‘why’ then amazing things happen.
- A happy team becomes more productive.
- A happy team brings in more of the same types of people.
- A happy team won’t leave to work elsewhere.
If your team is happy then you’ll be happy and profit will flow.
To make your team happy, then concentrate on four key areas with each and every one of them. These key areas to focus on do seem straightforward, but many entrepreneurs miss them. Why?, who knows but hopefully if you see the words then they’ll spark a change and begin the catalyst to transform both you and your team.
1. Help team members get things done on time and to meet expectations – make the team dependable on both you and the team around them. Foster interaction and cross working and encourage relationships to development.
2. Set clear goals and define clear roles. If you team has structure and clarity then work will be easier. The team should know what needs to be worked on and when. Start with the end in my and work backwards to find out what needs to be done today, then work on making baby steps each day to get closer to your goals.
3. Ensure that team members have tasks that mean something significant to themselves but also to others in the team. When a team has meaning then a team will work closer and better together.