Bonding key to high performance teams

Teamwork! A word that is given so much prominence in every organization, a skill and attitude that each company seeks to build in its employees. Organizations strive over many training programs and outbound sessions to create this essence of teamwork in each and every individual.

It has always been maintained that teams that work together with a common goal and engender bonding with each other tend to perform better and more productively than teams that have a low sense of bonding.

A team usually starts off at an initial stage of each individual member getting to know another and slowly over time with understanding to resolve conflicts and communicating better with each other, grows into a potentially highly charged team that is ready for high levels of productivity. A team of individuals that is ready to take off is thus called as High Performance Team (HPT)!

A HPT is a concept in organization development that refers to teams or groups that are highly focused on their goals and can achieve superior results. A HPT usually outperforms all other similar teams and expectations. According to research, any High Performance Team has the following 10 key characteristics amongst others:

Participative leadership � In a high performance team, there is no single leader always and, in a democratic manner each team member is involved in the entire team process. Everyone's opinion is taken and each contribution is valued. Depending on the task, the individual with the most competence and skill in that task takes up the leadership role for that particular task and the others follow that individual

Effective decision-making � members of a high performance team usually use a combination of rational and logical decision-making methods and processes along with intuitive and creative thinking so as to make effective decisions as quickly as possible in the given time and the given situations. Good decision-making involving consideration of all available information and one's earlier experience to evaluate the existing options and zero in on the optimum choice at that time

Open and clear communication � a high performance team ensures that the entire team communicates effectively with each other and makes the communication channels easy and flow of communication smooth. The team has a common understanding on what they speak to one another and their communication methods are usually seamless and quick and effective

Valued diversity � in a high performance team, each team member values the others. Each team member's experience and background is given its due recognition and the team member is allowed to contribute their viewpoints so that all the viewpoints are taken together leading to better decision-making as well as better solutions.

Mutual trust � a high performance team tends to have a sense of mutual trust embedded between them. They tend to trust each other and also trust in the concept of a team as an entity. The team members tend to listen to each other, feel free to share more easily, and work with each other on a model based on trust

Managing conflict � a high performance team can deal with conflict openly and transparently. The team members can share their feelings and opinions in an open and confronting manner and can use the conflicting situations that arise in a constructive way to learn and enhance relationships rather than go destructive at each other and hinder each other's progress. A high performance team can leverage any conflicting situation and knows how to work around it with each other so that they are able to generate productive results

Clear goals � a high performance team not only has clearly defined goals and objectives; they also have clarity of what needs to be achieved and by when. The team has SMART goals set clearly � Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals. Each goal in a high performance team has a personal meaning for each team member and there is a commitment from the team member's side towards the goals and the organization

Defined roles and responsibilities � Not only clearly defined goals but members of a high performance team also have clearly defined responsibilities. They understand what they must do and what they must not do and they know to demonstrate their commitment to the team and the other team members and the organization

Coordinative relationship � the bonds between the team members in a high performance team is very strong and it allows them to easily and seamlessly coordinate their work to achieve effective results. A high performance team members cooperate with each other and help each other to succeed in their respective endeavours

Positive atmosphere � a high performance team maintains a positive atmosphere within its members. The team follows a culture that is open, transparent, positive, and focused on the possibilities of the future. With the above characteristics, a high performance team (HPT) functions much more effectively and efficiently than other teams. They understand the working styles of each other and learn how to manage and work with each other towards team success. Create your High Performance Team (HPT)!

It has always been maintained that teams that work together with a common goal and engender bonding with each other tend to perform better and more productively than teams that have a low sense of bonding

You have the power!

Revathi Turaga is an international trainer & inspirational speaker. http://www.revathionline.com