Setting up High Performance Teams - Case Study Example

Setting up High Performance Teams Introduction Setting up high performance teams is a prerogative of any organization and in the business world of present times; it is very much a need rather than a desire. The businesses have changed so as to create more room for teams than individual working ethos. This has given space to more facilitation within the working environments of teams since they bring combined efforts and usage of more brains than a singular person. Important Factors in Selecting the Right Mix of People The factors that stand important in the wake of high performing teams include a commitment towards common goals and a simplistic and solitary objective which must be kept in mind at all times. These factors underline the basis of the teams performing a singular whole than disjointed units within the framework of the organization or the group that they are working under. Constituting a team is an important measure since it explains the manner in which the team members would carry out their processes and activities in order to reach the ultimate objective – the goal which is in sight. Also the presence of a leader within the ranks is also significant since he is the one who ensures that commitment and devotion is laid towards the activities of the whole team and that the team members are dedicated to the cause of serving the objectives of the team. A leader would guarantee that the team members remain on their toes and are up and ready in order to outperform each other so that the end result is one which will make the team stand out as a whole. The objectives of the team are more quintessential than the individual members and this is one aspect that the leader brings with him whilst formulating a high performance team. (Opie, 2000) People selection and recruitment stands as a very essential step of the formulation of teams since right kind of people must be geared up to the task and it is a must to check the kind of motivation that these team members have at the very moment and whether or not the same would remain like that within the future. Thus these factors are deemed as very important whilst getting the people under an umbrella which would actually see that the teams would get the right kind of members within their hold and this is important since it will decide how the team would actually perform within the future and in the long run. One must understand that team members are committed to the task and remain in line with the strategies and tactics deployed by the team leaders so that the team is a high performing one, both in difficult circumstances and in times of ease as well. This eventually will help the team keep in nice stead of the whole situation at all times possible. External Factors that facilitate in Motivating the Team Members for a Consistent Period of Time The team members need to have solace and comfort in their personal lives in order to have a more professional relationship and work ethics with the remaining team members as well as the groups with which these people work alongside. A high performing team is always on the move since it wants to achieve the best in terms of results, end processes and activities. High performance teams always look at recruiting the best possible staff within their folds since they give in their best in terms of work ethics and team rules. The external factors which play a significant role in turning ordinary collection of people into high performing teams and maintaining the same at a single position demands consistency in efforts and thus the steps must be in line with keeping their motivation levels at the top. This collection of people should be explored in a complete manner so that their basis examines the quality which is comprised within them. The environmental factors imply that a lot of importance comes from the ranks of the societal and external elements which shape up the formation of the teams in the first place. These external elements could be in the form of their interaction with people outside of the group as well as those with which they interact on a regular, day to day basis. Now it is up to the mannerisms which these other people employ that the team members shape up their attitudes and commitment levels. High performing teams must ensure that they remain at a consistent level when they achieve their goal and thus retain their top levels so that consistency in efforts and activities are maintained for a long, constant period of time. (Young, 1998) High performing teams always maintain their momentum and try their best to sustain this over a long period of time so that the returns are there for the taking. Thus in the end it is significant to understand that high performing teams always try to make an effort to reach the top levels possible and thus maintain their ranking for as long as they can afford. This ensures that high performing teams are very pertinent to the basis of working groups and teams and they must be appreciated by one and all, more so when they are on the top most levels. External Factors that help from keeping the Team on Toes A high performing team can become a less well performing one if there is less motivation within the ranks and the team members experience animosity amongst each other. There would be a lack of unity and cohesion amongst them and the end result would be such that their team composition would get seriously affected as a result of the same. The external factors that play a significant part in such circumstances include the interference of other teams or groups within the matters of this team as well as adhering to external advice and/or suggestions from all quarters which could run riot with the whole formation of the team as a result. A high performing team can turn into a less well performing one when the leadership has become weak and there are no authoritative principles being set in the first place. This would mean that the team’s leadership hierarchy would seriously get hindered and as a result the whole make-up of the team would be disjoined in the sheer sense of the word. (Varma, 1998) However the environmental factors which could bring about such a change or transition from the top quarters down towards the less well performing teams include biasness to creep in within the team ranks as well as animosity and hatred to prevail within certain team members. This is a pretty factual representation of any team since external factors do play a huge role in the change regimes when a high performing team becomes a less well performing unit. Thus the duty of a high performing team is to comprehend that it has to maintain its position at all possible times and it cannot afford a hiccup at any stage whatsoever since this would mean undermining its own basis and then the end result would be one that would tarnish the whole fabric of the high performing team and this will eventually turn into a lesser performing unit. This would not be remarked as a team anymore since individual efforts would reign supreme in the long run – a fact that so very clearly underlines the aspects of team building, composition and oneness, advocated out and out through the whole team discipline regimes. Support Measures and Encouragement is deemed necessary for instilling confidence in a Team A newly set-up team needs to have top leadership which is not only accepted by everyone but also respected in the truest sense of the word. This would mean that the leadership would have its due say in the scheme of problems, worries and tensions that arise in a team every now and then and which is a general exercise in any team that is formed in an organization all round the globe. Thus the support basis of a newly constituted team would ask for a leader who would instill the right kind of attitude and confidence within the remaining team members. Then there is the need for encouragement for each other’s tasks and undertakings, not only within the team members but also the same coming in from outside the team composition. This means that the support is based on sound premise and there is evidence to the notion that a team could only work in the best manner possible if there is encouragement from all round and people are appreciative of its existence in the first place. (Hanlan, 2004) This aspect is deemed as important since it raises the motivation levels of the team members as well as the people who are attached with it, in a direct or indirect fashion. The newly set-up team also requires incentives in the form of bonuses, regular salaries and dividends which would make them work at their best and demand of them to give in their all when it comes to the completion of team tasks and activities. The aspect of unity and oneness would thus prevail at the end of the day and if seen in a general perspective this indeed is the right way of going about doing things, as far as a team is concerned. A team can only become a high performing unit when it knows what it has to do and what is expected of it in the long run. Constant chopping and changing within the team structure would mean that no one is assured of his place within the team and this would instill a sense of skepticism and worry within the team members – an aspect that simply cannot be afforded as long as a team is in place. The Way Forward – Towards the Right Direction The right kind of assessment that is needed to keep a team geared up towards achieving its objectives is through measuring its motivational levels. This could be sampled through at different stages of the team composition and the results would be apparent to one and all. Thus unity of purpose and a sense of direction could be ascertained from such an exercise since a team could be best judged by the manner in which it exploits its undertakings – a fact that is closely monitored by their approach towards the works and tasks and the same being in line with their respective motivational levels. The assessment could be finalized if the team is ticking all the boxes which are constructed in the wake of finding out the problems which the team might engulf into with the passage of time. A team could be best explained through its mannerisms and this is a measure of its development towards a high performing unit. This indeed is the order of the day on any given day and it must be hailed by all and sundry as far as the undertakings of the team are concerned. Thus the assessment that is correct under these settings would look to find out the factual basis of the team’s performance levels and check whether or not these are in line with the demands that were given out to the team when it was being formed. If the same are being met considerably well then this means that the team is achieving its objectives and the goal is in sight that needs to be achieved over the course of the long term strategy. However if these objectives are not being met, then this would mean that the leadership is not being exercised in the right manner which could gear the team members into performing at their optimum levels as well as the team members are simply not in the right frame of mind as per going through their intended lines of action and tasks. For a team to keep developing in the right direction, it is the need of the hour to tell the team members time and again what is expected of them as well as gain their valuable feedback so that the whole mechanisms of team composition and getting the work done through the team is made apparent and crystal clear. There must be no apprehensions within the related ranks as far as developing a team in the right direction is concerned. Bibliography HANLAN, Marc. (2004). High Performance Teams: How to make them Work. Praeger OPIE, Anne. (2000). Thinking Teams, Thinking Clients: Knowledge-Based Teamwork. Columbia University Press VARMA, Arup. (1998). High Performance Work Systems: What We Know and What We Need to Know. Human Resource Planning, Vol. 21 YOUNG, Dianne P. (1998). The Challenge of Leadership in High Performance Work Organizations. Journal of Leadership Studies, Vol. 5 Word Count: 2,071 Read More