High Performing Teams: What They Are and How to Build Them

Every organization invests heavily in hiring the best people because the best people become high-performing team members who deliver the best outcomes. Right?

Falsch. 

A team full of “A players” does not automatically translate to a high-performing team. 

The US men’s Olympic 4x100 meter relay team has some of the fastest sprinters in the world. Yet, the team has struggled with baton exchanges in multiple Olympic Games since the Beijing Olympics 2008, leading to below-par performance and even disqualification in the recent Paris Games despite having some of the fastest sprinters. 

Let’s apply this situation to a workplace: Organizations often invest heavily in hiring top talent yet struggle to build high performing teams. High performing teams don’t rely solely on individual brilliance. They create a culture that fosters collaboration, trust, and alignment. 

In this article, we will learn what makes teams high performing, their key characteristics, tips, and how organizations create a high-performance culture. 

What Makes Some Teams High Performing?

No team is a high functioning team from Day 1. It takes a lot of learning & unlearning, forming connections with team members, and performing everyday tasks. Below are some of the key factors that can help you distinguish:

Positive team culture in driving performance

A strong team culture creates trust and a sense of purpose among members. In such environments, teams experience smooth collaboration and high performance teamwork. 

When leaders promote open communication among team members, the chances of internal politics reduce drastically, which also impacts team productivity. As a leader, you are responsible for building or improving the team culture. If you nail this, everything else becomes easier to navigate.

The right mix of personalities and skills

When a team consists of a diverse mix of personalities and skills, it brings varied levels of expertise and experience. This diversity leads to more innovative solutions and effective problem-solving.

In fact, as per a study by Cloverpop, if your teams are diverse and inclusive, they are capable of making better business decisions twice as fast as teams that do not have a diverse mix.

Working towards common goals

When all team members work towards a common goal and vision, it helps unite them. Alignment with the team's goals and values develops commitment and engagement, driving collective effort toward success.

Characteristics of High Performing Teams

The following are the key common characteristics you will find in a high performing team: 

Clarity of roles and responsibilities

Clarity of roles and responsibilities organizes the workflow, helps meet deadlines, and maintains team accountability. A systematic workflow minimizes conflict and confusion when every team member knows their responsibilities. 

The clarity of tasks and responsibilities ensures that each team member contributes effectively, prevents overlaps and gaps in project ownership, and leads to high-performance outcomes.

Mutual trust and respect

Trust and mutual respect are the glue that holds high performing teams together. According to a McKinsey report, teams with members who trust each other are 5x more likely to produce results. 

A thriving, high performing team believes in each other’s capabilities and respects diverse thoughts and experiences. Creating a safe place for your team members will encourage them to share ideas, take risks, and innovate together.

Setting realistic “high performance” standards

High performing teams hold themselves accountable for what they are working on to meet those exceptional standards. This happens when they understand the broader impact of their work on the organization and continuously reflect on their performance. 

When tasks and goals are clearly defined, measurable, and compelling, high performers collaborate on shared objectives, leading to performance breakthroughs.

Leveraging individual strengths to full potential

Recognizing and valuing the unique qualities of each team member strategically leads to collective success. This is not only professionally fulfilling but also includes diverse perspectives and backgrounds, which enrich team collaboration and decision-making.

Open to communication and feedback

High-performing teams encourage open dialogue and debate. Open communication channels are effective for setting clear expectations and navigating conflicts. 

A team with high productivity always has 360-degree feedback conversations. Team members give and receive feedback openly, which will help their growth and improvement. Recognition of achievements and constructive input on challenges deepen trust and accountability amongst team members.

Focus on growth and learning

High performing teams have a growth mindset. Team members regularly seek feedback, learn from mistakes, and invest in personal and professional development. Continuous learning keeps teams adaptable and ready to meet future challenges. 

Recognize contributions and celebrate success

High performing teams understand that success is a collective achievement. A team that recognizes and rewards wins creates a culture of appreciation, strengthens bonds, boosts morale, and reinforces a sense of belonging. 

By leveraging the right AI-powered employee recognition software like Empuls, you can develop a high-performance culture, which will recognize all the aspects of employees, making them feel motivated. 

Timely recognition of team members drives employee engagement, motivation, and retention.

Who’s Responsible for Building High performing Teams? 

Building high performing teams is a shared responsibility of:

Leaders

Leaders are the guiding light of any high performing team. They set the tone by outlining clear goals, developing open communication channels, and making strategic decisions.

Team members look to their leaders for guidance, the right direction, and effective coaching to achieve goals and seek motivation for positive outcomes. 

Leaders need to reiterate the organization's goals in multiple forums to keep team members focused on achieving meaningful outcomes.

Managers 

Managers translate organizational goals into team objectives and are responsible for their teams' growth and development. They build relationships with direct reports, provide feedback, and ensure the team operates smoothly.  

Managers should focus on building an environment of trust so that team members can share ideas, exchange feedback, and collaborate with other team members. 

Managers should reward ideal behaviors and celebrate small wins to drive employee motivation and satisfaction. 

HR professionals 

HR supports team dynamics through training and development initiatives, which are crucial in driving performance management. High-performing teams focus on moving the needle on company objectives and continuously monitor key metrics. 

The HR function helps them track and monitor performance feedback and metrics related to the team as well as the organizational goals. 

Individual team members 

Each high performing team member plays a role by being accountable for their responsibilities, reaching out early in case of any bottleneck, and being committed to the team’s success. 

How To Build a Culture of High Performing Teams 

Creating a high-performance team culture requires leadership effort, a supportive environment, and a clear alignment between team and organizational goals. 

Here’s how organizations can create such a culture:

Leadership’s role in promoting high performance behavior

Leaders set the tone for team performance by modeling the behaviors they want to see. Strong leaders empower employees by giving them autonomy while ensuring they have the guidance to succeed.

Google’s Project Oxygen found that the best leaders focus on coaching rather than micromanaging, create an inclusive environment, and invest in employees’ professional growth.

Recognizing contributions

High performing teams thrive in environments where their contributions are recognized and they feel motivated to innovate. Companies that integrate employee engagement platforms make acknowledging and rewarding outstanding contributions easier.

By integrating tools like Empuls, organizations cultivate an atmosphere where teamwork, creativity, and excellence are the norm. The platform enhances employee motivation by offering recognition, gamification, and real-time feedback.

Aligning team goals with organizational goals

A high-performance culture is only sustainable when teams understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture. This alignment ensures that individual efforts are channeled toward achieving strategic business outcomes.

Encouraging a growth mindset

Organizations that embrace continuous learning encourage employees to take on new challenges and learn from failures.

Microsoft transformed its culture under CEO Satya Nadella by shifting from a "know-it-all" to a "learn-it-all" mentality. 

Companies can promote a growth mindset by offering access to learning platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, or Udemy, and by recognizing efforts to learn and improve rather than just celebrating outcomes.

By integrating these strategies, organizations can build a culture that nurtures high performing teams, drives innovation, and sustains long-term success.

Tips for Building High Performing Teams

The ability to assemble and nurture high performing teams makes all the difference in an organization's success. Building a high performing team is more than just bringing together a group of talented individuals. It requires nurturing key characteristics and behaviors to achieve repeatable results. 

Here are some practical tips to help you build high performing teams:

1. Align team goals with organizational purpose

Employees who work towards a shared purpose tend to perform better than employees who have a narrow focus on just getting work done. If you look at any successful leader of high performing teams, you will notice a pattern of repetition. 

Leaders of high performing teams (HPTs) over-communicate the organizational purpose to keep them top-of-mind for all employees through all-hands meetings or regular check-ins with employees.

These interventions create a shared sense of purpose and ensure everyone works towards the same goal. 

2. Promote open communication 

Transparent and constructive communication is the lifeblood of a high-performing team. Many high-performing teams follow the maxim, “Everything is open unless confidential.” These teams cultivate a culture where ideas and feedback flow freely and disagreements are resolved with mutual respect. 

As a practice, these teams ensure that all conversations about projects happen on public Slack channels rather than DMs so that everyone can contribute and stay updated. 

Minimizing confusion and conflict is crucial for better team performance. Organizations can also undertake team-building exercises that help break down communication barriers and foster collaboration. After all, teams that communicate and outline roles and responsibilities have strong working relationships based on trust.

3. Build a “learning organization”

Peter Senge detailed the idea of a “learning organization” in his book The Fifth Discipline. In it, he defines a learning organization as a company that facilitates continuous learning and development of its members so that they can quickly adapt and excel in today’s VUCA environment. 

Today, the only sustainable competitive advantage for any organization is the ability to learn and move faster than the competition. High performing teams continuously invest in learning and development initiatives through one-on-one coaching sessions, conference participation, and online and offline classroom learning sessions.

4. Celebrate small wins and have a structured Rewards & Recognition (R&R) program

Acknowledgement and celebration are potent motivators for high-performing teams. Acknowledgement boosts morale, reinforces desired behaviors, and motivates excellence.

Make time to express appreciation regularly. 

Weekly one-on-ones are opportunities to discuss goals, tasks, and accomplishments—big or small. Encourage peer-to-peer recognition through a "team shoutout" 

With Empuls’ social recognition platform you can recognise and reward your peers publicly. 

How High Performing Teams Contribute To The Success Of The Organization

High performing teams are essential for any organization's success. They get work done, align with company objectives, achieve goals, and are hyper-focused. 

1. Work towards the organization’s overall mission 

High performing teams focus on not just individual or departmental goals but also how their work helps advance the organization’s mission. This alignment boosts engagement, motivation, and productivity as team members see their impact on the organization’s success.

2. Drive innovation and creative solutions

Creating a safe space for your team members can encourage innovative ideas and problem-solving, enabling teams to develop creative solutions.

Leaders who create a team culture in which everyone brainstorms ideas openly, improvises on each other's suggestions, and adapts to feedback are bound to form high performing teams.

3. Balancing short-term and long-term strategies

High functioning teams focus on delivering short-term results while investing in long-term growth strategies. The balance between short-term wins and future preparedness keeps organizations on the path to success.

Schlussfolgerung

High performing teams are the backbone of organizational success. An ideal HPT will be: 

• Innovativ 
• High on productivity 
• Engaged and motivated 
• Focused towards growth

Building high-performing teams requires effort—from leadership, managers, and team members coupled with the right tools and recognition systems that drive excellence. 

By onboarding a tool like Empuls, you can help organizations create an environment where employees feel valued and recognized to contribute their best work. 

Now is the time to invest in your teams! Book your demo now.

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