Why are some teams more successful than others? What distinguishes these teams from the rest? Putting together a group of talented people with the right skills isn’t enough to form a high-performing team. It necessitates the careful cultivation of key characteristics, behaviors, and best practices.
The technology industry is one of, if not the most dynamic, industry. Change happens all the time, and in order to keep up with the competition, businesses and organizations must have high-performing teams who can endure the winds of change and seize opportunities.
Steps to Develop High-Performing Teams
Provide them with SPACE
Use the SPACE framework to create an environment in which people can see the big picture. It outlines the areas in which you can work as an engineering leader to improve employee satisfaction and business outcomes. SPACE is an acronym that stands for:
- Performance
- Activity
- Satisfaction
- Communication
- Efficiency
Establish areas for improvement
You can go through these areas and see if any of them need to be improved so that you can set actionable goals. For example, if you want your teams to have more autonomy, you may need to improve their communication. You can improve the documentation system so that they can make better decisions and are not reliant on anyone else’s agenda to solve problems.
Don’t try to do everything at once
This framework has five areas, but you should not try to focus on all of them at the same time. Two or three areas are easier to manage. You and your team can decide which areas to focus on first; begin with the one that requires the most improvement.
Prioritize getting all areas to an acceptable level
Once you’ve reached that point, you can iterate on each aspect with a focus on the group’s natural strengths to create an environment in which your team can thrive.
Keep in mind that each team is unique.
Efficiency and performance are issues for some teams. Others must prioritize satisfaction and well-being. This means that the solution is unique to each team. It can be a tool at times, or it can be a new process or ritual. It could also be as simple as having more discussions with your team.
Improving a Team’s Performance
Determine critical values
Trust, autonomy, and ownership are key components of high-performing teams. That’s what’s important. Consider what is important to each team and what high performance means to them. Assist them in understanding the five areas of the SPACE framework and provide guidance, but they ultimately decide what to work on.
Make a list of action items
Involve the teams in the creation of action items. Prefer brainstorming and come up with ideas with others. With just a few people’s collective knowledge, a plethora of ideas and actionable steps can emerge.
What Should High-Performing Teams Prioritize?
Collaboration and communication
The most important are communication and collaboration because they provide clarity. Clarity on roles, clarity on how to advance up the career ladder, and clarity on the team and its channels and practices. Communication with other teams is also essential for more effective collaboration. Once the business goals have been defined and communicated, they can be broken down into technical tasks and assigned to the team. Team members do not need to be in constant contact with each other, in person or remotely if tasks are clearly defined. They understand the goals of the next sprint and can work independently on their assigned responsibilities.
Business Before Tech
Business is the most important priority, and technology enables businesses to make money. Technology is both a product and a business for tech companies, but the business must make money. That is why technology teams must think in business terms. If the bubble of tech teams is broken and exposes them to the rest of their environment, the team leader can help them develop this perspective. Encourage them to interact with people from other departments so they can try new things and get out of their comfort zone.
Value Company’s Values
As a cultural inspector, you must define the company values and facilitate these values. Celebrate and encourage desired behaviors while being strict about what you do not allow. Set clear boundaries so that everyone knows what is expected of them. These expectations can support high performance. You can communicate, for example, that you do not encourage average performance and make it clear to your team that you expect them to pay special attention to details because any lack of focus hurts your customers. If you tolerate mediocrity, your employees will be unmotivated to give their all at work because they will be treated equally regardless of their efforts.
Intrinsic Motivation
When new hires inquire about company values, they’d be a great addition to our team because they’re interested in these aspects of the job. They recognize the significance of shared values, and pushing toward the end goal while remaining true to them motivates them. This type of motivation cannot be purchased with money because it is intrinsic. Dan Pink’s book Drive, one of the best books for teams, categorizes intrinsic motivation into three components: mastery, autonomy, and purpose.
Conclusion
Building high-performing teams is difficult, but it is doable. Following these tips will result in significant improvements within your organization, and your teams will be ready for whatever curveball is thrown their way.
