9 Things That Won’t Happen To A High-Performing Team
We often hear about high performing teams, and how to achieve them. What we don’t hear as much is what happens when you don’t have a high performing team.
I’ve decided to come up with a list of things that may just happen, if your team isn’t achieving as much as it could be, addressing these points might only improve the overall performance of your team.
1.Your team won’t have poor communication
Communication is absolutely crucial for any team, regardless of what it is you’re trying to achieve. You need to be not only talking about your progress but also any issues you might be having.
In a team that isn’t performing well, the communication will be poor. There will be a kind of hush-hush culture in the room, where nobody talks about their achievements or their struggles.
This might not seem like a severe problem, especially if work is being done, but it leads to drastic problems and a hindrance of progress.
If you feel like your team is lacking communication, perhaps walk towards fixing this. Activities can help a bunch with this.
2. Your team won’t have micromanagement
You might genuinely believe that close management helps your team, but you could be wrong. If everybody needs approval from somebody to pass the smallest of tasks, motivation can run low, and new ideas will be cut short.
Make sure there’s freedom and manage your team more broadly. I’ve been in situations where every little thing I did was micromanaged and assessed, and it had adverse effects on my morale and overall work.
My advice would be to allow people to have their own time and their own goals. Don’t set them for other people, manage them in a way that directs them rather than controls them.
3. Your team won’t criticise without praise
Most teams have a coordinated system or progress tracker of some kind. This works super well for groups, as it highlights what’s going well and what can improve.
However, if you only focus on the areas of improvements or the mistakes, failing to notice the accomplishments, it can really damage productivity.
The mindset of “well, my hard work never gets noticed so why should I do it?” kicks in, and your team ends up only doing the bare minimum.
Make sure to praise your team, and bring attention to successes.
4. Your team won’t have unreasonable expectations
High performing teams have reasonable expectations – goals which can be achieved, milestones that can be reached. Teams with unreasonable expectations, for example, a goal that has purposely been set too high, will actually have adverse effects.
Is there any real point in striving towards a goal that isn’t obtainable? That’s exactly how your team will feel.
A high-performing team will set realistic, reasonable goals that push everyone forward, without making them lose faith or risk burnout.
5. Your team’s work won’t be subpar
This is arguably the most critical thing, high performing teams will consistently produce work that is above the standard.
Teams that aren’t motivated or enthusiastic will only produce the bare minimum. This perhaps highlights the absolute importance of ensuring a high performing team.
It goes hand in hand – a high performing team produces work of a higher standard.
6. Your team won’t be stubborn
Let me paint an example for you; a stubborn team won’t be open to new ideas or perform new tasks. They will stay stuck to their usual work, with a stubborn refusal of new jobs to complete.
Now, a high-performing team often has members that aren’t afraid to say ‘yes.’ They will jump at new opportunities and try their hand at new tasks. Sure, it might not work out, or it might not be their strength, but at least they tried.
Don’t get confused between stubbornness and assertiveness. Stubborn refers to somebody stuck in their ways which often hinders progress or forward movement. Assertiveness is somebody who’s bold, confident and self-assured which is excellent for a team. A refusal to do something is not the same as a strong-willed decision made by somebody.
7. Your team won’t be interested in learning
This brings us nicely onto our next point – an interest in education. A high performing team has members that are interested in moving out of their comfort zone.
This could be on any aspect, even something small like admin work, or becoming the lead for a next big project. In a team like this, everybody is moving forward, grabbing new opportunities and working towards new heights.
On the contrary, a low-performing team won’t be willing or interested in learning new skills. They will finish the work they were supposed to do, and call it a day.
8. Your team won’t be focused on hitting goals
They just won’t be that interested in hitting new goals or achievements. They’ll almost adopt that “just keep swimming” mantra that Dory has mastered ever so perfectly. Though, this might be a great way to live life and not stress, it’s not so great for a team that wants to reach new heights.
9. Your team won’t recognise individual strengths
Too often a team will get tied down with job labels. Yes, somebody might be the administrator, but they might possess amazing digital marketing skills. The accountant might have great salesman skills? A high-performing team will recognise individual strengths and talents, and act upon them.
This also applies the other way around. If you can see that a team member struggles with a specific task, you shouldn’t force them to keep on doing it, that will make them lose morale.
Well, these are all the issues that a high performing team won’t deal with. I hope this has been insightful and given you ideas on how to transform your team.