Leading high performing teams

mprasatik@gmail.com (Mark Prasatik) — Tue, 9 Dec 2014 13:01:00 -0800

Leading effective teams is one of the most challenging skills to master in business. There is no single formula for success because every team is different just as every organization and culture is different but there are common themes that work across all cultures and organizations. Notice that I didn't say individuals because not all individuals work well in a team and that leads us to the first and most important criteria.

Selection

Sometimes we have have the ability the select our team and sometimes we don't but over time this will pay the largest dividends. All things being equal, skills, experience, education and so on, select the person who has a passion for the work. You can't teach this. Someone who is passionate about their work will be more creative and invest more discretionary effort than any other motivational factor.

Reward

Extrinsic rewards like pay and benefits are needed to prevent demotivation but they are short term motivators at best. Intrinsic rewards like recognition, having some control over the work environment and doing interesting work are the rewards that keep the team motivated on a daily basis.

Goals

Teams have to perform. That is their purpose so some goals are naturally organizational in nature but we need to set goals that align with the individuals inherent passion. We know that it's easier to lead a horse to water and yet we sometimes set goals that don't align with the individual's passion. If you see that goals don't align then you have to reconsider your selection process.

This is a leadership cycle that happens over and over in high performing teams. The leaders that that are most effective will have a passion for developing high performing teams. If you don't then review your selection process.

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Leading high performing teams