By Annabel Graham, Executive and Team Coach, and Director of Successful Training, Leadership & Coaching Consultancy.
As leaders we all strive to have high performance organisations and teams. We often define ‘high performance’ by our results and outputs. In fact though, it’s governed by the behaviours and culture of the organisation.
What then do I mean by a High performance Culture?
The research firm Gartner, define it as: “a physical or virtual environment designed to make workers as effective as possible in supporting business goals and providing value”. It involves optimizing employee performance without damaging their satisfaction, engagement, and morale.
Who wouldn’t want this for their business? But does this describe your organisation? According to the CIPD Learning and skills at work survey 2021 17% of businesses believe improving line manager capability will improve performance.
So after 20+ years as a senior leader, and 10 years as a coach I created the five steps below that always make a difference. Some are theory, some are simply what worked for me!
1. Clarify team purpose
Defining the purpose of your team, your vision for the future and your common goals is vital. Get your team involved when you do this, so it is agreed jointly, and everyone contributes. Then make sure you re-enforce it at team meetings and every time you interact with that team.
2. Set expectations & agree outcomes
We assume people know what we expect of them, but often we haven’t been clear. Hold an expectations meeting with the team and individuals, and clarify:
their role,
what you want to see from them daily, weekly and monthly.
What can they expect from you, and what they want from you. Also agree the goals with the team for the relevant period.
Agree how they will deliver the business needs, and how and when you will measure success and review.
3. Agree team behaviours
Agreeing team behaviours or “how we will play together” is vital. This ensures you all walk your talk. This could be as simple as:
We will be on time for meetings, and meet in person every month.
We will hold a weekly meeting to update each other on wins, priorities and concerns.
We will deliver on time.
We will never talk over each other, and will support joint decisions we have made.
4. Communicate regularly
If you are running a hybrid or remote team, you need to set up routines for communication. This may seem obvious, but so many leaders don’t do it, and instead wait for their team members to call them. You need to meet people regularly 1 to 1 and as a team to build relationships, trust and be seen as a human not just the boss.
Meet Individuals
Weekly – 1 to 1 video/phone call/in person to discuss operational issues e.g workload/ issues/see how they are
Monthly – a face to face meeting (remote or in person) to discuss longer term goals & development
As a team, there are three meeting rhythms which always work. Plus these also allow good practice to cross pollinate and high performance to grow, as the team gets into a rhythm.
Weekly meetings – tactical, planning 1-4 weeks out,
Monthly meetings – operational, planning 2-6 months out
Quarterly meetings – strategic, planning 6-18 months out.
5. Follow up consistently & do what you say you will do – always!
How you behave is as important as your team’s behaviours. If you have asked for information, or an action to be completed, follow up on that. Give feedback, and don’t let the deadline slide or the work go unacknowledged. If you demonstrate you care about results, then your team will start to care too. They will make sure they achieve on their own without you pushing the agenda.
Finally do what you say you will do! It makes you a credible leader, builds trust and gains loyalty.
Do these actions always guarantee success? Not always, but these will give you the foundations from which to build!