Key Strategies for Building High-Performance Teams in Tech

We all continuously hear about high-performance teams and the importance of becoming one. But there is actual no real definition of it. Is it?

• A team that releases many cards
• The one that delivers high-quality code
• The one that has all the best engineers

The answer, at least for me, is none of the above.

What is a Team?

A definition by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management:

A team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to
information, resources, knowledge and skills and who seek to combine
their efforts to achieve a common goal.

A group itself does not represent a team, for a group to become a team, there is a need for a common goal. As a group evolves into a team, it needs to go through several transformations.

Evolution From Group to Team

Teams typically go through several stages of development. These stages represent the journey from a group of strangers to a united group with common goals.

Tuckman's model describes the four stages of team development as:

1. Forming: This is the initial stage where team members meet for the first time. Everyone is polite and positive, and there are high expectations but little understanding of the tasks ahead.
2. Storming: As team members start to work together, differences of opinion may lead to conflict. This stage is marked by resistance, competition, and conflict as individual personalities emerge.
3. Norming: Gradually, the team moves into the norming stage where they start to resolve their differences, appreciate colleagues' strengths, and respect the leader's authority. The team begins to develop cohesion and unity.
4. Performing: This is the stage where the team is fully functional and works towards achieving the team's goals. There is a strong bond between team members, and everyone works collaboratively and efficiently.

On the top of Performing, we could say there is outperforming is where High-Performance teams live. This final stage is reached when the team consistently exceeds expectations and delivers exceptional results. The team is highly collaborative, innovative, and operates with a shared vision and purpose.

Transitioning from One Team Stage to Another

1. Forming to Storming: The transition from forming to storming requires team members to start working together and engaging in discussions and decision-making. It's important for each member to feel comfortable expressing their opinions and ideas, even if they differ from others. This phase often triggers conflicts due to diverse views, but it is a crucial part of the team's evolution, as it allows members to understand and appreciate each other's perspectives.
2. Storming to Norming: The shift from storming to norming is marked by the resolution of conflicts and the establishment of processes and norms. This stage requires effective conflict management and open communication. Besides, the team should focus on recognizing and appreciating the strengths of each member and fostering a collaborative environment. The team begins to feel a sense of unity, and a collaborative culture starts to develop.
3. Norming to Performing: Moving from norming to performing entails the team becoming more focused on achieving shared goals. The team has now established effective working relationships and understood each other's working styles. At this stage, it's important to stay focused on the team's objectives and ensure everyone is working collaboratively towards them. The team becomes more autonomous, with members taking on responsibilities and roles that align with their strengths.
4. Performing to Outperforming (High-Performance): The leap from performing to outperforming is achieved by exceeding expectations consistently. It's vital to maintain the momentum, continuously innovate, and strive for improvement. Commitment to the team's shared vision and purpose, trust among team members, and open communication are crucial factors in this stage. The team should also be flexible in adapting to changes and challenges and should be driven to continually improve their performance.

Traits Of a High-Performance Team

• Trust: This refers to the confidence among team members that each person will fulfill their responsibilities and maintain a commitment to the common goal.
• Mutual Support: This involves members actively helping each other to succeed, promoting a culture of cooperation and interdependence.
• Drive: This indicates the team's collective motivation and ambition to achieve their goals and continually improve their performance.
• Edit Their Needs: This implies the team's ability to self-assess and adjust their requirements and strategies based on the evolving circumstances.
• Open Communication: This refers to the team's ability to communicate effectively, ensuring that everyone feels heard and understood. Open communication fosters transparency and encourages team members to share their ideas and feedback.
• Do Not Depend on a Leader: This means the team operates in a decentralized manner where every member takes initiative and responsibility, rather than relying on a single leader for direction and decisions.

Example Tools To Improve Team Traits

Getting to Know the Human Behind: Team Personal Presentations

Team Personal Presentations is an exercise where each team member creates a short presentation about themselves to share with the rest of the team. This can include information about their background, interests, strengths, weaknesses, and even fun facts. The goal is to allow team members to get to know each other on a deeper level, beyond just their professional roles.

This exercise can help to build stronger relationships within the team, foster empathy and understanding, and improve team cohesion. It gives team members an insight into who their colleagues really are, which can lead to greater trust, better communication, and a more effective working environment.

Getting to Know How We Exchange: Communication Preferences

Communication Preferences is an activity that helps team members understand each other's preferred methods of communication. This can include when and how they like to receive information, how they handle conflict, and how they give and receive feedback. Understanding these preferences can greatly improve team collaboration and prevent misunderstandings.

Getting to Know What We Care About: Moving motivators

The Moving Motivators exercise is a tool from Management 3.0 that helps in understanding the intrinsic motivations of individuals within a team. It involves a deck of ten cards, each representing a key motivator such as acceptance, curiosity, freedom, or power.

The participant orders these cards in order of personal importance. Then, they consider a recent change in their work or life and move the cards up or down based on whether this change has positively or negatively impacted each motivator. This provides valuable insights into what drives a person and how changes affect their motivation, which is crucial for effective team management and leadership.

Getting to Know What Area to Improve Next: Team Health Check

The Team Health Check is an exercise developed by Spotify to assess the health of their teams.

Teams collectively assess how they are doing on several aspects, such as collaboration, value delivery, mission, fun, learning, and leadership. Each team member votes on each aspect using a traffic light system (green for good, yellow for okay, red for not good).

The results are then discussed openly, helping to facilitate communication about challenges, improvements, and actions to be taken. The exercise is not about blaming or pointing fingers but about understanding and improving team dynamics and performance.