Building High Performance Teams

There are 5 principals in creating and maintaining teams that over-achieve. Use these principals as a guideline for getting other people involved in your business.

1. Tell your people what’s in your head. As the owner, you are constantly thinking about what’s important to your business’s success. Meet regularly (weekly) with your key people to make sure they know what you think is important. Tell them where the company is headed and how their position is important to getting there.
2. Listen to what your people have to say. If you are going to share with them what you think is important, be ready to take some feedback. Your people may be closer to your customers, on a day-to-day basis, than you are. As a result, they may have insight into changing conditions in the marketplace. Trust them to give you honest and meaningful intel.
3. Create clear goals. Leaders define winning and then go after it. How do you know when to celebrate success without a clear endpoint? Otherwise, your company is either flailing in the wind or continuously reaching for a moving target. Make sure your people know where the short-term finish lines are – and celebrate when you get there! (And it makes moving on the next goal a lot more meaningful.)
4. Make sure the job fits the talent. Not everyone is a star salesperson. And star salespeople can rarely sit still long enough to be a great bookkeeper. If an employee is not working out, be sure to check the systems and position they are in to make sure there is a fit. Even though the employee is giving it their all, failure can still result.
5. Make work meaningful. Few things are more discouraging than going to work and thinking your efforts are futile or meaningless. Get out of the Hourglass by including your people in key activities and decisions. Implement their ideas. Two or more heads are better than one. What’s more, they may be better at the job than you are.