Who are High-Performance Team Members?
High Performance team members
A High-Performance Team member candidate can be basically anyone
A high-performance team member does not need to be some kind of super-person; they do however need to be team-oriented and open to learning new ways of behaving and working.
Virtually anyone can achieve high-performance
Selection criteria
1. Highly Desirable
Experiential.
Team members have an average of five years of experience in their chosen field.
Maturity.
Team member relationships are basically healthy.
Skillsets.
Team members possess specific industry knowledge and a set of appropriate skills matching that knowledge.
Attitude.
Possess a ‘give it a go’ approach to work.
Orientation.
Team members are supportive of each other, possess personal strengths that drive their work performance and think everyone is equal.
Get things done.
People who can be given a job, and despite how busy they are they will complete it in the agreed timeframe. There is no need to follow up with these people.
Possess Gusto.
Gusto, meaning they show great energy, enthusiasm, and enjoyment that is experienced by them taking part in an activity
Possess Alacrity.
Alacrity, meaning, they perform all tasks with speed and eagerness.
Outlook.
They are driven and career-oriented and exude positivity and care about others.
2. Nice to have
Extroverts.
Extroverts are generally preferred because of their talkative, sociable, action-oriented, enthusiastic, friendly, and outgoing personalities. They are also faster decision-makers, more significant risk-takers, and more innovative thinkers.
Introverts.
Introverts, however, are necessary as well, they tend to be more focused, observant, lower risk-takers that carry out a more detailed analysis of available information than their extrovert partners, and they bring a conservatism and balance to decision making.
Extraordinary.
They ignore their job descriptions, are eccentric, pull their sleeves when the going gets tough,
appraise others in public, are self-motivated, and process-driven.
Qualifications.
University/college level qualifications are irrelevant in terms of High-Performance outcomes.
Case study
Here is an example of a team in a very sorry state that I moved to high-performance. A newly appointed senior IT executive asked me to look over his IT department to identify and deal with any issues. The department had a reputation for poor performance and service. It was a large department that had old IT systems and a deeply rooted traditional management structure. I soon discovered that the IT manager in charge had a regular habit of taking his direct reports to Mc Donald’s on Monday mornings, then returning to eat in his office which had a was floor to ceiling clear glass front. As they ate, they decided amongst themselves which member of staff they would single out, bully and torment that week. All in full view of the staff who knew what they were up to. As you might imagine, the people were traumatized, timid, unwilling to venture an opinion on anything, and mostly hidden behind their desk partitions in fear of their managers and their abhorrent actions.
Suffice to say this practice did not last long. I let the IT manager go as he was beyond redemption, but I retained his direct reports and the staff. This team went on to achieve great success with outstanding job satisfaction, productivity, and service improvements.
Evaluating team members
Evaluating team members is one of the most important things that needs to be done, that is, an honest assessment. Selecting the right people to be in your team is the most critical decision you will make. The right people are fundamental to the team’s success, and you will be investing time and energy in their development.
It’s important to know your people. As a manager in an organization who wants to develop teamwork, you need to have a good understanding of your people. Spending time with them, talking to them, is the way you come to understand what they care for individually; this is how you discover what makes them tick.
Experience shows that given the opportunity to make the grade, almost everyone is successful. A change in your management style combined with a chance for team members to change along with you and their peers motivates people to do amazing things. It doesn’t happen overnight, but in nearly all cases, it does happen.
I should also mention that I often started with teams that were in a very sorry state of affairs, due mainly to the appalling management practices of my predecessors. Yet even these teams changed in ways that I never thought possible. People can be utterly amazing when given a chance to show you what they are capable of and how they can excel. A little support and motivation, along with honest feedback, goes a long, long way.
The people you want
Rarely will you have the opportunity to create a new team from scratch? The norm is that you inherit an existing team upon which to build, or you have a current team that you want to upskill. High-Performance Team members need to have particular characteristics and exhibit specific behaviours; it’s quite likely you will not get many if indeed any of these from your people at the outset.
Therefore, you need to build the team to develop the necessary characteristics, some people will excel, and some will not. Those team members who are not making the grade need to be moved to a different position or be managed out. There is no room for them in your team.
Around 20% of team members do not make the grade, but that leaves 80% who do. They respond positively to High-Performance training that recognizes their value, provides feedback on performance, is supportive, and from which they achieve significant job satisfaction. As the manager, it’s up to you to lead by example, provide the right environment and create the right culture.
The best yardstick or measure I can suggest for evaluating your current team members is ‘they get things done.
These are the people to who you can give a job, despite how busy they are, and ask for it to be completed by a specific time or date. You know that the job will be done, that’s it is guaranteed, and that there is no need to follow up. You want a team made up of people like this. These people are ‘A’ Team candidates. Otherwise, they need to possess two key characteristics.
Gusto, meaning they show great energy, enthusiasm, and enjoyment that is experienced by them taking part in an activity.
Alacrity, meaning, they perform all tasks with speed and eagerness.
Gusto and alacrity come in different forms. One is the person who is racing around to get something done, and another is someone who sits quietly at their workspace but produces remarkable results in quick time.
Extroverts and Introverts
Team members can be both extroverts and introverts. Extroverts are generally preferred because of their talkative, sociable, action-oriented, enthusiastic, friendly, and outgoing personalities. They are also faster decision-makers, more significant risk-takers and more innovative thinkers.
However, I have found that having at least one or two introverts in my teams was a good thing. They tend to be more focused, observant, lower risk-takers that carry out a more detailed analysis of available information than their extrovert partners, and they bring a conservatism and balance to decision making.
Complimentary skillsets
The team needs to be comprised of team members with multiple and complementary skillsets. They need to possess specific industry knowledge and a set of appropriate skills matching that knowledge. These elements create synergies with other team members and are one of the things that make High-Performance Teams highly productive.
When building a High-Performance Team, you need a team member for each major discipline, your business activity demands. (Technology, Marketing, Infrastructure, Engineering, Finance, Sales, and so on).
Extraordinary Team Members
Some people are extraordinary; they have qualities that make a huge impact on their performance and the performance of others.
They Ignore their job descriptions. Well, not completely, but they think and act outside their job description or fixed roles. When they encounter situations that require action, they act irrespective of their role or position. These are the people who get things done.
They are eccentric. Someone with a somewhat unusual personality, someone who is very comfortable in their own skin. They may seem odd at first, but pleasantly so. They tend to be very creative, good debaters, and make for excellent team members.
Pull their sleeves up. When the going gets tough, these people have a trait of forgetting about who they are and rapidly becoming a member of the team when required. They recognize when things have become serious and change their behaviour accordingly.
They appraise others in public. These people effortlessly appraise their fellow team members in the same way, and they do it publicly.
They are self-motivated. These people come to work firstly for its enjoyment, to satisfy their passion and secondly for pay. They are often possessed of an overwhelming need to be successful and work hard to achieve it.
They are process-driven. High-Performance teams are process-driven, some people get it, some don’t. Process brings consistency, increased quality, cost-effectiveness, reduced task and project timeframes, fewer errors, to mention just a few of the benefits. These people are the ones who off their own back work to make the process better.
Qualifications
University/college level qualifications are irrelevant in terms of High-Performance outcomes. Some of the most brilliant, professional, High-Performance people I have ever known had no tertiary qualifications whatsoever.
Senior Management potential
Do you see senior management traits in any of the team members? You are, after all, developing team members to become High-Performance Managers.
Some clues to management potential are people who think about others first, believe they are no better than anyone else, are personable, non-judgemental, and hold themselves accountable. Often the best assessment is to observe their interactions with yourself and others and go with your gut.
The people you don’t want
The ones you don’t want are simply the opposite of the ones you do. These are people who are not comfortable with the concept of being a professional. They are usually the cowboys who ignore instructions and process and do as they please. Then there are terrorists; they actively look for situations they can make worse for the pure warped pleasure of it.
As a word of caution, you need to ask yourself “Do some people behave in a certain way because of the current workplace culture?” If you suspect this might be the case, I suggest you assume that they can change and therefore, be considered as possibilities. Only you can judge.
Then there are people who are just plain lazy and disinterested no matter what the culture. Don’t waste your time with these people, use the “Do you want to become a Professional?” approach (discussed later) and performance manage them out as fast as you can.
Unprofessional
Some people are not interested in becoming a professional; they choose not to change their behaviours. There is no room for this attitude in the team. Team members need to decide upfront if they are interested in being developed into professionals. Personal biases and prejudices, for example, cannot be part of a professional persona, nor is there room for personal issues.
Job perks
These people are more interested in the job’s perks than they are in the job. Gen Y can be guilty of this. These people, believing they are highly valuable they come to you demanding or strongly suggesting at least that it’s in everyone’s best interest to expand their remuneration package. They want to receive more flexible working hours, paid overtime, a personal use Uber account, to bring their dog to work, want company paid life insurance, and the list goes on. What I like about these people is they declare their real agenda to you, which makes them easily identified as people you don’t want. High-Performance team members are in it for the job, the work, the experience, not just for the perks.
Hostage takers
A staff member that holds you hostage: These are staff who due to their many years of service are the only staff members left with specific business knowledge. They are a highly valuable resource, and they know it. Steps need to be taken in these situations to document what they know (best of luck with that) and to train up other staff. I have encountered many people of this type and, each has firmly believed that they are indispensable and therefore, can do as they please. They ignore management directions, carry out unauthorized work, are often lazy, and even go as far as to turn up for work when it suits them.
I give everyone a second chance. I discuss with these people what my expectations are and that their specific behaviour is unprofessional and that I have no room for them in my team. I then document the discussion in an email and copy them and Human Resources as part of a potential ‘Performance Management plan’ to manage them out. Often, they call your bluff, believing you won’t do it.
In most cases, I have happily terminated their employment based on their failure to meet my documented expectations and for failure to carry out their (again documented) job functions in a professional manner. Never has a department suffered any real issues as a result of a hostage taker’s departure. Yes, I move quickly to get an experienced contractor in if that’s possible until I can get a replacement if that’s what’s required.