High performance teams

Revision as of 18:11, 5 April 2023

Developed by Bence Richter

Introduction

According to the widely accepted definition, High Performance Teams (HPTs) are a concept in organizational behavior and management that refers to a team of individuals who work together to achieve a common goal. It provides a framework for teams to enable high levels of performance and reach their goals more effectively. The concept is described by several key components, which include shared goals, well-defined roles and responsibilities, strong communication, trust, well-executed decision-making, adaptability, and continuous improvement.^[1] When implemented effectively, it can lead to increased productivity, team morale, and improved quality. Given the nature of this concept, it is used in many areas of the professional world including healthcare, sports, IT, the automotive and retail industries R&D just to highlight a few. It can be applied to almost any kind of team, meaning it can be applied specifically to project teams as well. Nowadays, numerous companies, like Volvo and Boeing, are successfully using the High-Performing Teams concept within their project teams.^[2] This article focuses on

• Providing guiding principles around building a high performing project team
• Discussing the benefits of the application of the concept
• And describing key elements of the implementation strategy.

Concept background

Historical overview

As mentioned in the introduction, high performance teams are prevalent in many modern professional fields outside of the corporate world as well. However, even though the concept was only described in the second half of the XX. century^[3], high performance teams that possessed the attributes like strong leadership, clear goals, and a shared commitment to excellence existed throughout history.

In ancient times, one of the most successful high performance teams was the Macedonian phalanx under Alexander the Great. The phalanx was a formation of soldiers armed with long spears and shields, and it was highly effective in battles due to the discipline and coordination of the soldiers.

During the Middle Ages, knights and their horses were also considered high performance teams. Knights had to work closely with their horses, which were trained for battle and had to be directed by the knight's movements and commands.

In modern times, sports teams have been a prime example of high performance teams. For instance, the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls basketball team is considered the greatest team in NBA history setting multiple records that season. The reason the team could be this successful is that it had strong leadership both on- and off-court, excellent teamwork, and shared commitment to a mutual goal of winning the championship.

Stages of Group Development

In 1965, Bruce Tuckman proposed a model

^[4]

Guiding principles

Defining what teams and project teams are in the introduction of this section for a better understanding before deep diving into the topics below

Drivers and barriers of project team performance

^[5].

Characteristics of high performance in project teams

^[6].

Interview analysis conducted with members of high performance project teams

^[7].

Trust and safety as fundamental conditions

^[8].

Benefits of application

A collection of benefits derived from the Guiding principles section summarizing the favorable traits which make high performing project teams superior to other project teams.

Implementation strategy

This section discusses multiple criteria from various literature which need to be taken into account when planning to introduce the high performing team model to a project team. Failing to meet with this set of criteria likely means that the goal of developing a high performance project team will not be met and the discussed benefits won't apply. ^[9]. ^[10]. ^[5]

Discussion

Further discussion centered mostly around the role of the project manager in high performing project teams. The project manager plays an important role after the formation of the project team in keeping high performance. The project manager has to have certain characteristics and has to initiate certain developments in order to keep the edge and succeed. ^{[6] [7]}

References

1. ↑ [Lund, A. (2011) Creating a High Performance Team.] User Experience Management, pages 163–189.
2. ↑ [Richardson, P. and Denton, D. K. (2005).] How to create a high-performance team.
3. ↑ [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckman%27s_stages_of_group_development] Tuckman's stages of group development. (2023, January 29).
4. ↑ [https://hr.mit.edu/learning-topics/teams/articles/stages-development] Using the Stages of Team Development
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} [Thamhain, H. J. and Wilemon, D. L. (2013). Building high performing engineering project teams.] IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, EM-34(3):130–137.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} [https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/characteristics-high-performance-project-teams-8525] Edward J., Kinlaw, C. S., & Kinlaw, D. C. (2000). Developing superior project teams: a study of the characteristics of high performance in project teams. Paper presented at PMI® Research Conference 2000: Project Management Research at the Turn of the Millennium, Paris, France. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} [Ammeter, A. P. and Dukerich, J. M. (2002). Leadership, team building, and team member characteristics in high performance project teams.] EMJ - Engineering Management Journal, 14(4):3–10.
8. ↑ [Lapshun, A. L. and Fusch, G. E. (2021). Trust and Safety as Fundamental Conditions for a High[U+2010]Performance Team.] Performance Improvement, 60(3):15–19.
9. ↑ [Shi, Y. and Dai, X. (2009). Research on principle and strategies of building high- performance project team based on synergetic. In 2009] 1st International Conference on Information Science and Engineering, ICISE 2009, pages 5065–5068.
10. ↑ [https://www.ckju.net/en/blog/how-you-can-manage-project-teams-deliver-high-performance/65952] How you can manage project teams to deliver high performance by Dr. Sumbul Tahir, 16.11.2019