As a leader, your success depends on your team’s performance. Building & managing high-performing teams is critical in enterprise leadership. It requires a unique set of skills and techniques as you transition from Competent Leader to Enterprise Leader.
Growth Series
In this series, I pause to consider the qualities of leadership that are essential for senior managers to hone their skills and become top-performing enterprise leaders.
Effective Team Management Techniques
Here I explore the principles and practices of transitioning to enterprise leadership. The keys to how you can develop effective team management techniques to build and manage high-performing teams.
Building High-Performing Teams
Reflect on the company’s Strategy and determine a team structure that sets your team up for success
- Reflect on the company’s Strategy and determine a team structure that sets your team up for success
- Analysing the required fit-for-purpose team composition, skills, capabilities
- Consider team diversity, complementary skills and breadth of transferable skills.
- In existing teams, is to understand the skills and abilities of each team member.
- This allows you to assign roles and responsibilities that align with each team member’s strengths.
- A well-designed team structure helps to ensure that each member can contribute meaningfully to the team’s goals.
Establish clear and effective communication
- Establish clear and effective communication: Leaders need to establish open lines of communication
- Foster a culture of openness and transparency, creating a safe place for team members to share ideas and provide feedback.
- Focus on trust and respect, here team members feel safe to express their opinions without fear of retribution.
Be clear on your Values
- Be clear on your Values
- Cultures are created either explicitly or implicitly, either way, we all play our part
- Avoid ‘implicit’ cultures forming by focusing on being explicit
- Be purposeful! your culture matters!
- use a Values session to either define your teams shared values
- where your organisation has defined values, use these to start your Value session, to reinforce or define your teams shared values.
- Cultures are created either explicitly or implicitly, either way, we all play our part
Teamwork agreed Norms and Processes
- Teamwork agreed Norms and Processes
- Establishing an agreed set of processes and methods, and accommodating the inputs, process mechanics and outputs are vital to focusing the energy and experience of senior teams.
Developing Effective Team Management Techniques
Effective team management techniques involve setting clear expectations, providing feedback, and supporting team members to achieve their goals. As a leader, you need to establish and align shared vision, goals and company objectives. Once these goals are set, it is essential to communicate them clearly to the team, outlining each member’s role in achieving them.
Team Charter or Executive Directive
An essential ingredient both misunderstood and undervalued, yet crucial for success, is the Team Charter, Executive Directive or simple guidebook.
Dr. Edward W. Merrow in his book and Dr. Karen A. Brown and Dr. Nancy Lea Hyer in their book both emphasize establishing:
- Project Charter,
- Executive Director
- or at least a communications plan
In any of these cases, the stakeholders you are communicating with need you to:
- Identify all stakeholders
- Determine the objectives & set expectations for performance
- Determine the right channels and timelines
- Assign responsibilities and Monitoring/evaluating criteria
Mentoring and Coaching
To manage your team effectively, you must provide regular mentoring and coaching. This allows team members to identify areas for improvement, equipping them with what they need to grow and develop. Effective coaching and mentoring is best delivered within a framework focused on self-discovery, your role as an Executive Leader is the facilitation of self-discovery.
Finally, as a leader, it is essential to provide your team with the resources and support they need to achieve their goals. This can involve providing training and development opportunities, ensuring that the team has the tools and resources they need to perform their jobs effectively, and removing any obstacles that may prevent them from achieving their goals.
Great, Exceptional vs. Average Team Leaders
The difference between great, exceptional and average leaders lies in their ability to:
Great
- understand their team members’ strengths and weaknesses,
- communicate effectively,
- Facilitation of growth, through feedback, mentoring and coaching
- and support their team members to achieve their goals.
Exceptional
- foster a culture of trust and respect,
- providing team members with autonomy
- support what they need to perform their jobs effectively by creating a known/knowns framework
Average
In contrast, average leaders rely on directive leadership styles, micromanaging actions and team members, providing minimal feedback or support. This likely leads to disengaged team members who are less likely to take ownership of their work and contribute to the team’s success.
Body of knowledge: Reflections
Several of the notable thinkers and their works that I have reflected on in building and managing high-performing teams:
Patrick Lencioni
“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” Lencioni is a well-known author and speaker on the topic of team performance. In his book, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.“ Lencioni outlines five key areas where teams often struggle, and provides practical advice for addressing these issues. This style of writing is helpful to ‘read along’ with your team as is a detailed case study of the fictional team who is moving through the challenges faced by many teams.
Daniel Coyle
“The Culture Code” explores the science of building great teams. Coyle draws on research from neuroscience, psychology, and sociology to identify the key components of high-performing teams. Coyle provides practical strategies for building these components into your own team.
“The Culture Code” sits on top of my desk (and almost never in my bookcase) as is rich with tactile insights that I reference regularly.
Susan Wheelan
“Creating Effective Teams: A Guide for Members and Leaders” provides a practical guide to building and managing high-performing teams. Wheelan leverages her research to identify the key stages of team development and provides advice for navigating each stage.
Simon Sinek
“Leaders Eat Last”. provides valuable insights into the role of leadership in creating high-performing teams. He argues that leaders who prioritize the well-being of their team members and create a culture of trust and cooperation will ultimately be more successful in achieving their goals.
Kim Scott
“Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity”. provides a framework for effective communication and feedback in the context of leadership. Scott emphasizes building strong relationships with team members, and provides practical advice for giving and receiving feedback in a way that promotes growth and development.
Conclusion
Building and leading high-performing teams is a critical aspect of enterprise leadership. Effective techniques involve setting clear expectations, providing feedback, and supporting team members to achieve their goals. Leaders must foster a culture of trust and respect, encouraging open communication, and providing team members with the resources and support they need to succeed. By developing these skills and techniques, you can build and manage high-performing teams that drive your company’s success.
