High performance teams

Revision as of 14:53, 6 April 2023

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, and 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 performance 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 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. The success of knights in battle depended on their ability to work together as a team, with each member playing a specific role and supporting each other.

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^[3] which described the different phases he thought groups must go through during their evolution to grow, face challenges, tackle problems, plan and find solutions, and deliver results. When creating these phases he also created that reference state which served as a foundation for the high performing team concept. The 4 phases or stages^[4] he identified and described are:

Forming

During the Forming stage of team development, team members are usually excited to be part of the team and about the work ahead. They often have high expectations and at the same time, they may also feel some anxiety regarding their place and performance in the team. They are also likely to ask a lot of questions reflecting both their excitement and the uncertainty or anxiety they might be feeling about their place in the team. In this stage, the main objective is to create a team with a clear structure, goals, direction, and roles so that members begin to build trust.

Storming

In this stage, members are trying to see how the team will respond to differences and how it will handle conflict as they discover that the team can't live up to all of their early expectations. Focus is likely to shift from the tasks at hand to feelings of frustration or anger with the team's progress or processes. The frustration or disagreements are openly expressed and may be directed toward other members or the leadership of the team. During the Storming stage, the team has to refocus on its goals, maybe even breaking the goals into smaller, achievable steps while the individual members have to develop both task-related skills and group process and conflict management skills.

Norming

In the Norming stage, team members begin to close the gap between their individual expectations and the reality of the team's experience. If the team previously managed to set more flexible and inclusive norms and expectations, then members should start to feel a higher sense of comfort and increased acceptance of others in the team. Constructive feedback is both possible and welcomed in this stage as members make a conscious effort to resolve problems and achieve group harmony. This leads to more frequent and better communication within the team and allows the members to return their focus to the team's tasks resulting in an increase in productivity both individually and team-wise.

Performing

During the Performing stage, members feel attached to the team and feel satisfied with the team's progress and effectiveness. Members are aware of their own and each other's strengths and weaknesses and feel confident in both their individual abilities and each other's abilities as well. Differences among members are also appreciated and used to enhance performance. "Can do" attitude is prevalent as are offers to assist one another thanks to roles becoming more fluid, allowing members to take on various roles and responsibilities if needed. This makes the environment ideal for the team to make significant progress toward its goals. Commitment is high and so does the competence of the team members who are also actively encouraged to deepen their knowledge and skills, and to continuously improve the team development. Accomplishments across the team are measured and celebrated.

It is during this Performing stage that high performance teams emerge. By this point, team members have established a sense of trust and cohesion, and they are able to work together seamlessly to achieve their goals. They are highly productive, innovative, and efficient, and they are able to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.

In project management, the group development model is also extensively used by project managers to assemble teams and guide them toward success. However, the progression journey is generally more fluid and may not always be linear as teams can progress from one step to the other only to take a step back at a later time as the project evolves and progresses. Effective leadership and clear communication are key factors in guiding teams through the different stages of group development and ensuring that they reach their full potential.^[3]

Guiding principles

This section aims to introduce project teams and their relation to the high performance team concept. The goal is to get a better understanding of how project teams work, what drivers and barriers they can face and how does a high performing project team "feels like". In general, we can say that when we talk about a project team we mean a team in which:

• The period of cooperation is limited as team members are likely to return to their original field or department after the project is done
• The tasks are complex and require a great amount of knowledge, high level of skills, and good application of professional tools and concepts
• Knowledge and skills are multidisciplinary as members are likely to be selected from different fields or departments

Drivers and barriers of project team performance

In 1983 and 1984 an investigation was conducted^[5] to map out the drivers and barriers of high team performance. Drivers are factors associated with the project environment that are believed to improve a team's performance, while barriers are believed to degrade a team's performance. The findings identified over 60 factors^[5] that were compiled into a larger list. The factors then were further investigated to find the drivers and barriers that have the strongest correlation to a team's performance. As a result, 12 factors were identified^[5] that are statistically significant when it comes to high team performance. These are:

1. Drivers
   • Interesting and stimulating work
   • Recognition of accomplishment (of individual or team)
   • Experienced management personnel
   • Proper technical direction and leadership
   • Qualified project team personnel
   • Professional growth potential
2. Barriers
   • Unclear project objectives and directions
   • Insufficient resources
   • Power struggle and conflict
   • Uninvolved, disinterested senior management
   • Poor job security
   • Shifting goals and priorities

Characteristics of high performance in project teams

In 2000, a paper was presented at PMI® Research Conference^[6]. exploring the relationship between project success and team development. The foundation of the paper is a NASA study on project teams which aimed to identify the characteristics of superior project teams and highlight the behaviors associated with project managers of high performance project teams. Among the key findings, the authors listed those characteristics^[6] that were found to apply to high performance project teams.

Interview overview 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. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} [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 5.2 5.3} [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 6.2} [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