Organizations want high-performing teams since they have a reputation for continually delivering outcomes. Very few teams are high-performing and stay on the journey to mastery. Not only does the team not deliver what the organization needs, but the team members don’t grow individually and do not collectively learn from their experience.
A leader’s intent, along with the clarity from the team about a shared vision of how they would like to work together can create the starting conditions for a high-performing team. Regardless of the specifics of a team’s journey, high performance is a mindset not a “state” to achieve. Through the years I have witnessed a few teams who have inspired me by their synergy, alignment, and diligence.
As coaches, how do we guide organizations to build high-performing teams?
In the summer of 2020, the Accounts Team was formed. Management merged two existing small teams into one and gave them the responsibility of a critical domain in our product suite. This new team had several potential strikes against them — one team came from an acquired organization; the manager was brand new to management and the team was going to be focused on a domain they were unfamiliar with.
