High performance teams

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. 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. 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, 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 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 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.

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 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 that were compiled into a larger list. The factors then were further investigated to find the drivers and barriers that have the strongest influence on a team's performance. As a result, 12 factors were identified 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. 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 that were found to apply to high performance project teams. These characteristics are:

1. Team focus
   • Team members are able to see beyond their own needs and prioritize the project's needs over theirs. Problems are solved with a clear understanding of the project's requirements. Members understand the difference between "nice to have" and "must have" and are able to focus on what brings the project's success closer
2. Communication
   • Everyone, from leadership to regular team members everyone is committed to sharing information even if the information is only preliminary in an open and honest way
3. Empowered
   • Team members are able to influence everything that goes on in a project and this influence is balanced with the required competence. These empowered members are the ones who influence through competence as they have the freedom to do it. The importance of continuous learning is very much prevalent
4. Competence
   • Members possess the required skills and knowledge to perform technical tasks, they also have the willingness and motivation to perform, and the ability to fit their own field of expertise into the larger needs of the project as well
5. Interdependence
   • Team members understand how their work affects the work of others and can undermine each other's competencies fully. They are fully confident that other members will do what they say they will do, and believe the information given by other members
6. Cohesion
   • Members experience and show strong team identity. They enjoy each other's company and frequently socialize. They are loyal to each other and there is a strong sense of inclusion. There are no second-class members on the team
7. Commitment
   • Team members refuse to fail and work on problems until they are solved. The project comes first and members are willing to make personal sacrifices to ensure that tasks are successfully completed
8. Diversity
   • Teams are distinguished by the diversity of gender, culture, and age. Members are multidisciplinary and represent a broad range of skills, experience, and competence. Differences are accepted, encouraged, and turned into powerful assets.
9. Structure
   • Team members are aware of the boundaries of their jobs and how jobs are connected. They also know the process for making changes that affect schedules and requirements. Responsibilities are given, but the work of the project is everyone's work. People have complete freedom in contacting any person or team within the project when and if they need help. Competence is the most important distinction, not position
10. Recognition
    • Recognition of own success and the contributions of individuals and teams within the project. A part of most meetings is used to highlight the achievements and contributions of members. Social events and outings are common and encouraged to celebrate successes. Rewards and bonuses can be given out to increase performance and recognize efforts

Interview overview conducted with members of high performance project teams

A paper published in the Engineering Management Journal in 2002. discusses the results of a series of surveys and interviews conducted with members of high performing project teams in the engineering and construction industry. They developed a theme list around the interviews which was later narrowed down as more data became available. The authors eventually ended up with 9 themes which they called "Emerging Themes" as they stood out from the the pool based on the received answers and comments. These themes ranked according to the percentage of respondents commenting on them are as follows:

1. Team orientation: sense of belonging to a team, working well together
   • This theme represents a broad feeling of being part of a team and enjoying being part of the team
   • Comments ranged from "you are part of a team so you can't let others down" to "being part of the project is a rush." There were frequent references to team members being energetic, excited, committed, and enthusiastic, and that the team interactions were fun
2. Critical leader behaviors
   • Leader behaviors are seen as highly influential
   • Based on these comments, the most important role of the project team leader seems to be to communicate the desired goals and values of the team while a secondary role is to keep members informed of the status of the project
3. Team communication: frequent team meetings
   • This theme discusses the regularity with which meetings were held for members of the project team and with external parties
   • A meeting of some sort was usually held at least weekly with core team members and regular status meetings were held with the entire team. The importance of communication in the form of status reports about how the project was doing was highlighted
4. Ownership - the sense that personal success is directly tied to the project's success
   • This theme was interpreted mostly as a sense of being with the project from beginning to end and a sense of the goals of the project being the goals of the individual as well
   • Comments were mostly about the importance of the alignment of the goals and the willingness to get involved in all aspects of the project to get the job done
5. Location - colocation and/or physical isolation of team
   • Being physically located together enables the "proximity" effect associated with group formation and makes it easier for face-to-face interactions between team members to occur
   • Commenters stated that being physically located in the same office with all, or a majority of members of the project team was a contributing factor to the success of the team
6. Performed team building
   • Almost all the project teams reported using either formal team building (organized workshops, off-site or on-site) and/or some form of informal team building (group events, lunches, casual days, etc.)
   • However there did not seem to be any less of a sense of team orientation among the teams that did not engage in actual team building. Since the interviews were made with high performance project teams, it is possible that the atmosphere of a good project team naturally contains the characteristics that team building seeks to establish which explains why team building made no difference
7. Competition - sense of competition with other or previous projects
   • Comments stated that competition in the form of frequent comparisons with other projects was important as a number of the project teams were being evaluated against the performance of past teams or teams running in parallel to them. Competitive comparisons thus provided a practical check as to how they were doing relative to their benchmarks
   • High performance teams can use the checks to reaffirm that they were truly a high performance team
8. Rewards or bonuses for excellence - use of team perks
   • Rewards were often in the form of plaques mounted in the team's office space or in the organization's common area or were given in the form of cash bonuses.
   • They were usually reserved for performance at critical stages in the project and not for overall final project success, meaning that the rewards were given during the project, serving as a motivator for future performance within the project's framework
9. High level support - sponsorship/high profile/high visibility of project
   • A larger number of respondents stated that if the project had high visibility and high-level support then as a result the project had greater access to resources and was more carefully planned and executed than a project not having this visibility
   • Team members felt that they were more willing to give the project the extra attention to ensure its (and their) success as it is more important (for one's career) to do well on a high visibility project than on a low visibility project

Benefits of application

The subsections in the previous section resonate with each other and build upon each other. The drivers of high performance were taken into account when the characteristics of high performance project teams were described, and those same characteristics are appearing in the answers of members of high performance project teams when they are asked about different aspects of their project and group work. It is a form of assurance that the concept does indeed work in reality and that it offers an edge over "regular" project teams, and that these high performing teams are indeed more effective in achieving project objectives and delivering quality results on time. To summarize the benefits and the principles we can say that that high performance project teams offer:

1. Increased productivity: High performance project teams work more efficiently and are more productive than "regular" project teams. Members of these teams are multidisciplinary, skilled, and experienced, and they work together well in order to complete tasks quickly and accurately
2. Better communication: High performance project teams have better communication skills than "regular" project teams. They are open to loudly share ideas and feedback, resulting in improved collaboration, quicker problem-solving, and fewer misunderstandings.
3. Enhanced creativity: High performance project teams are more innovative and creative than "regular" project teams. They consist of people with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, who can bring new ideas and perspectives to the project. This can lead to unique and out-of-the-box solutions to complex problems.
4. Higher member engagement: High performance project teams have high levels of member engagement and satisfaction. When they feel they are part of a high performing team, they are likely to be motivated, committed, and productive.
5. Greater accountability: High performance project teams tend to be more accountable than regular project teams. Members are more likely to take ownership of their work and deliver on their commitments, which can lead to better project outcomes.

Recommendations for implementation

There are many recommendations and strategies available to help guide project managers and/or organizations in assembling and facilitating a high performing team for the respective project. For example, one paper that was released at the 1st International Conference on Information Science and Engineering titled "Research on Principles and Strategies of Building High-performance Project Team Based on Synergetics" offers an approach that utilizes team synergetics to introduce 3 recommendations or strategies for reaching the high performance team status. These are not brand new ideas according to the authors, and they claim that organizations may use 1 or 2 of these methods, but it's rare that all of them are applied together. the 3 strategies according to them are:

1. Establishing a "goal-oriented incentive" system
   • According to Fredrick Herzberg (behavioral scientist) one of the two main factors that shake up employees' motivation to work is incentives
   • Therefore it is highly desired for organizations to introduce incentives to the project team, both material (rewards, money) and immaterial (promotion for example)
   • Emotional support from the leadership and other team members is also highly needed. Furthermore, leaders should consciously and frequently communicate their expectations to the team members to strengthen the goals of the team
2. Focus on the selection of core members
   • As an organization, the first and foremost core member to identify and pick is the leader/project manager. The paper recommends using "leaderless group discussions" to find and evaluate the leadership material. An ideal leader/project manager has:
     • A deep understanding of the goal and expected result and can communicate these with the team efficiently
     • Knowledge about the technology in the relevant field(s) of the project
     • Charisma to be able to inspire others, increase their morale and lead them through difficulties
     • Strong organizational skills, communication skills, evaluation capacity, decision-making capacity, and ability to control
     • The presence and authority to keep the egos of the team in check and shut down arguments between them when they become excessive
3. Create an open space for knowledge sharing
   • Create a quiet and relaxed working environment isolated from other teams and general noise
   • Provide the necessary infrastructure, access to databases, networks, and knowledge bases
   • Facilitate sessions as a leader or project manager that encourage thinking out loud (brainstorming, fishbone diagram etc.) to create an inspiring atmosphere for the team members
   • The goal is to transition the implicit knowledge of individuals to explicit knowledge of the project team/organization

Furthermore, in the paper titled "Building High Performing Engineering Project Teams", the authors provided 14 recommendations aimed toward project managers to increase their effectiveness in building high performance teams. These recommendations are:

1. Project managers must understand the various barriers to team development and build a work environment catering to the team's motivational needs
2. The project objectives and their importance to the organization need to be clear to all individuals who get involved with the project
3. Project managers must continuously update and involve their upper leadership team to refuel their interest and commitment to the new project
4. Building a favorable image for the project in terms of high priority, interesting work, importance to the organization, high visibility, and potential for professional rewards is crucial in attracting and holding high-quality people
5. Leadership positions within a project should be carefully defined and staffed at the beginning of a new project
6. Effective planning early in the project life cycle will have a favorable impact on the work environment and team effectiveness.
7. Drive the involvement of personnel at all organizational levels during project planning. This involvement will lead to a better understanding of the task requirements, stimulate interest, help unify the team, and ultimately lead to a commitment to the project plan regarding technical performance, timing, and budgets.
8. All project assignments are to be negotiated individually with each respective team member. Each task leader should be responsible for staffing his/her own team
9. Management needs to define the basic team structure and operating concepts early during the project formation phase
10. Team building sessions should be organized by the project manager throughout the project lifecycle, but most importantly during the team formation stage
11. Project managers should notice the lack of team member commitment early in the life of the project and attempt to change possible negative views and opinions
12. It is critically important to get the support of senior management, build relationships with them, and to communicate the needed resources for the team from the beginning. They are the ones who can and should provide the proper environment for the project team to function efficiently
13. Project managers should watch for changes in performance continuously. If performance problems arise, they should be dealt with quickly
14. The project managers, through experience, should recognize potential problems and conflicts at their early stages and deal with them before they grow and their resolutions consume a large amount of time and effort.

Since the high performance teams concept is a concept that deals with people and people working together in different environments, there is no universally working strategy or solution. Each situation is unique, each project is unique and each person is unique. The above discussed and listed strategies and recommendations therefore may work fully, partially, or may not work at all given the situation. As a result, it is important to read and reflect on them in context. Use them as a foundation to create an own strategy as it is not uncommon for organizations to create and adopt their own version of high performance teams concept which is tailored to their way of working.

Disadvantages

Overall, while high-performance project teams offer many advantages, it's important to consider the potential disadvantages and determine if they are the right fit for an organization's specific project needs. It is once again important to stress that this concept is very much based around working with people and as a result, there is no single recipe for success or failure. There can be elements that work better for one team than for others. There are however some points which organizations and project managers can consider before setting up a high performance project team:

1. Higher costs: Building and maintaining a high-performance project team often requires investing in training, development, and compensation for top talent. This can result in higher costs than for regular project teams
2. High expectations: Members of high performance project teams are often held to a higher standard and expected to consistently deliver exceptional results. This can lead to increased pressure and stress. Project managers should be on the lookout for signs of burnout in team members. These can be, among other things, signs like:
   • Visibly increased stress level and anxiety
   • More frequent sicknesses and sick leaves
   • Reduced activity and performance

   Having to replace a team member due to burnout can complicate the project, increase costs and lower the team's performance.

3. Difficulty replicating success: While high-performance project teams may achieve exceptional results, it can be challenging to repeat that success in future projects. This is mainly present if a team is assembled only for one specific project and according to its needs, meaning it is not guaranteed that they would perform similarly well during a different project.

Annotated bibliography

• Shi, Y. and Dai, X. (2009). Research on Principles and Strategies of Building High-performance Project Team Based on Synergetics: A research paper introduced at the 1st International Conference on Information Science and Engineering focusing on using synergetics to analyze those order parameters and the relationships between them which affect the performance of a project team. It concludes that "any organization should provide essential material flow, energy flow, and information flow to its project teams" and discusses principles and strategies for building high performance teams based on the established findings

• Thamhain, H. J. and Wilemon, D. L. (2013). Building high performing engineering project teams.: An article released in the journal IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management originally in August 1987 that summarizes 4 years of research into the drivers and barriers of effective teambuilding engineering work environments. It presents a simple input-output model for organizing and analyzing the factors which influence team performance. It also presents the results of the field survey supported by correlation analysis to associate team performance with the most relevant 6 drivers and 6 barriers. Specific recommendations are made in the article based on the findings of the research

• Edward J., Kinlaw, C. S., & Kinlaw, D. C. (2000). Developing superior project teams: a study of the characteristics of high performance in project teams.: A paper presented at the PMI® Research Conference in 2000. It focuses on exploring the relationship between project success and team development. The findings are related to a NASA study on project teams. Characteristics of high-performance project teams are also identified and listed alongside with the behaviors associated with the project managers of high performance teams

• Ammeter, A. P. and Dukerich, J. M. (2002). Leadership, team building, and team member characteristics in high performance project teams.: An article published in the Engineering Management Journal discussing interviews with members of project teams about the factors that lead to high performance and a survey given to 151 project teams in the engineering and construction industry. The survey focused on project team leader behaviors, use of team building, and team member characteristics as predictors of project cost and schedule performance