Building a high performing team

Building High
Performance Teams
www.warpspeedtraining.com

THE BEST COMPANIES ARE THE BEST COLLABORATORS
… more and more business will be done through
collaborations within and between companies, for a
very simple reason …
The next layers of value creation - whether in
technology, marketing, biomedicine, or manufacturing –
are becoming so complex that no single firm or
department is going to be able to master them alone.
Thomas Freidman, 2005, The World Is Flat. Farrar, Straus & Giroux (page 353)

QUICK REVIEW &
DEEPER DIVE:
WORK GROUPS
VS. WORK TEAMS

Work Groups versus Work Teams
Work Group
– A set of individuals who rely on the sum of
“individual bests’ for their performance
Work Team
– A group of people who must work
interdependently to achieve a specific
outcome for which they are collectively
responsible, whose tasks are interdependent,
and who develop specialized member roles

Work Groupvs.
Work Team
Analogies from the Sports World
Canadian Olympic Hockey Team 2010
Canadian Cross Country Ski Team 2010

TYPES OF TEAMS
Quality
Group
Teams that recommend things:
Project
Group
Task Force

Teams that produce things:
Marketing
Customer
Service
Manufacturing
TYPES OF TEAMS

Teams that run things:
TYPES OF TEAMS

When is a Team appropriate?
1. When the work is so
interdependent that
we need constant back
and forth consultation
and collaboration

2. When the
work that the
group needs to
accomplish is
very complex

3. When the group
has a common
purpose for
being and produces
common work
products or
services

4. When the group
is committed to
building teamwork
and the
collaboration skills
necessary for team
success

1.
The sum of our
individual best
efforts is sufficient
to ensure success
in our tasks
Our work is so
interdependent
that we need
constant back and
forth consultation
and collaboration
1 2 3 4
Circle the appropriate number
Diagnosis: Do you need a Team?

2.
1 2 3 4
The work our
group needs to
accomplish is
well-understood
and doesn’t
require constant
complex decisions
The work that our
group needs to
accomplish is very
complex

3.
1 2 3 4
Our group’s work
covers several
different purposes
and generates
independent
products/services
Our group has a
common purpose
for being and
produces common
work products or
services

4.
1 2 3 4
Our group is not
interested in
putting forth a lot
of effort in
teambuilding
Our group is
committed to
building
teamwork and
collaboration
skills

1 2 3 4
1. Total your ratings and divide your total by four
/ 4
2. Now map your score out of four on the line below
3. Your Results: If your score is between 3 and 4, you could
benefit from creating a team

TO PONDER:
• WHEN AND WHERE DO WE NEED
TEAMS?
• WHEN AND WHERE DO WE NOT
NEED TEAMS?

QUICK REVIEW &
DEEPER DIVE:
CREATING A HIGH
PERFORMANCE
TEAM

Team Management
Practices
Problem Solving
Skills
Conflict Handling
Skills
Team Performance
Team Satisfaction
R2 = .83
R2 = .72
The research model has been validated with over 250 teams and 1800 individuals
The Team
Effectiveness Model

Team Management
Practices
Problem Solving
Skills
Conflict Handling
Skills
Team Performance
Team Satisfaction
R2 = .83
R2 = .72
The Team
Effectiveness Model

Team Management Practices:
Prepare for High Performance
Canadian Olympic Champions 2014
• Task strategies
• Social strategies
• Gaining
Commitment

Task Strategies
• What are our purpose and
our goals?
• Do we have the right task
strategies for accomplishing
them?
• How much authority and
scope do we have to plan
and implement solutions?
• What kind of information
do we need?
The big questions for teams are:

Social Strategies
• Do we have the right people
on the team?
• Do our processes ensure that
members contribute fully? Or
are we carrying dead weight?
• Do members understand &
fulfill their responsibilities
and their roles?
• Does the team abide by an
agreed upon set of group
norms?
• Are our meetings effective?

Gaining Commitment
• Do people remain committed
to the task and to each
other?
• Does every member assume
full responsibility for
completing the team’s work?
• Do team members respect
and trust each other?
• Are there sub-groups or
cliques within the team?

ASSESS YOUR TEAM
The Appendix contains a questionnaire
your can use to assess your team’s level of:
1. Task Strategies
2. Social Strategies
3. Level of Commitment

Purpose &
Vision
Authority &
Reporting Structure
Team Goals &
Accountability
Team
Norms
Team
Membership
Stakeholder
Relationships
Roles &
Responsibilities
Team Charter

Problem Solving: The Three Critical Skill Sets
Communications
Patience
Decision Making
Process
Synergy Skills

Seek first to understand and
then to be understood
- Steven Covey
Communications Patience

Patient Communicators
• work hard to make
themselves understood
• work hard to understand
others
• do not blame each other
for misunderstandings
• do not insist on their
solutions
When problems
occur,
slow down
to promote
understanding

Use a Good Problem-Solving Process - Consistently
Joint Problem
Exploration
Joint Option
Development
Identify the problem, or
opportunity
Explore the problem or
opportunity
Gather relevant
information
Define what success will
look like
Develop a statement of
the problem or
opportunity
Generate many
possibilities and
options
Joint
Evaluation &
Selection
Assess the many options
Select and test the best
options
Develop plans & actions Track
and modify along the way

If I had an hour to solve a
problem, I would spend 50
minutes defining the problem
and 10 minutes solving it.
- Albert Einstein

HOW TO CREATE
SYNERGY ON YOUR
TEAM

Synergy
All members together
achieving a result that no
member could achieve
on their own, thus
satisfying the needs of
all
What are the conditions
that must be in place for
synergy to occur?

Conditions for Synergy
Creativity and risk
Examine problems from
many sides
Combine knowledge from
different functions and
perspectives
Suspend judgment-what if
it is true? What if it
could work? 1 + 1 > 2

put our ideas together to come up with
a superior decision
use the ideas we bring to the group
only as a starting point
build on each others’ ideas
work together to find solutions
acceptable to all of us
create solutions that are better than
any one of us could offer alone
share information with each other to
solve the task together
do more than just combine our points
of view
We:

Use Brainstorming Guidelines
• Do not judge the ideas of others
• Do not edit your own ideas
• Everyone is encouraged, but not pressured, to
participate
• Build on ideas already generated
• Record all ideas on a flip chart so that
everyone can see them
• Once all ideas are out, review, combine and
evaluate them
• Evaluate each idea according to its feasibility,
usefulness, and impact
• Multi-vote to identify the high priority ideas
Review,
combine &
evaluate
ideas
Generate &
build on ideas

CONFLICT ON THE
TEAM
ANALYZING THE
COMMON SOURCES
OF PROBLEMS WITH
MOORE’S CIRCLE OF
CONFLICT

Trouble on the Team
• Read the following vignette
• What do you think is the source of the
problem?

The Domineering Team Member
The deadline for submission of the project XYZ interim report was fast approaching, and
Alex was worried. The project team was already showing signs of strain, and Alex
considered it extremely unfortunate to be paired with Chris on their part of the project. All
members of the project team had to perform their regular jobs on top of the project but
Chris seemed unusually busy and stressed. Although very assertive, even categorical, about
the project solutions, Chris had devoted little visible time and effort to the project so far.
Their meetings had been tense and brief, with Chris more or less dictating the contents of
the report from notes. Alex was not confident that their work to date was relevant to the
stated objectives of the project mandate, but Chris had either dismissed or totally ignored
these concerns. As Alex walked into Chris’ plush office and saw the desk piled high with
files, there was a moment of dread. Was this going to be another frustrating wrangle of a
meeting?
Chris, I’ve been thinking about our report a lot, and I think we ought to look at the
outline to make sure we’re on topic.
Godammit, Alex, are you still harping on that? I don’t have time for this! I’ve already
done most of the work on this, so where do you get off telling me my work is all
wrong?
Alex saw that Chris was on the verge of a major explosion and backed down:
Ok! Ok! Calm down! We’ll do it your way!

Value
Differences
Structural
Interests
Data
Relationship
Conflict Analysis using the Circle of Conflict
Moore, C. (1996) The mediation process: Practical strategies for resolving conflict, 2nd
ed., San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Data
• Missing information
• Wrong information
• Different views about what information is
relevant
• Different interpretations of the information

Interests
• Perceived or actual competition over interests
• Different views about what procedure to use
• Deeper psychological differences or ego issues

Structural
• Difference in power,
authority or control of
resources
• Time constraints

Value
Differences
• Different worldview,
ideology or way of life
• Different criteria for
evaluating ideas

Relationship
• Misperceptions or stereotypes
• Poor communication
• Repetitive negative behaviour

Trouble on the Team
• Read the following vignette
• What do you think is the source of the
problem?
Use the Conflict Analysis Matrix provided
below

Overtime Blues
Drew was angry. One Tuesday morning in May, Jordan had sent round a voice
message, announcing a meeting for Friday afternoon at 4:30pm. It would
probably drag on and run into the opening dinner at the golf course that had
been planned and anticipated for weeks.
Did Jordan think their project team had nothing better to do than discuss work
on the weekend? Besides, Drew had made it clear the last time that the group
meetings should be meet earlier in the afternoon so as not to interfere with the
group members’ family and social life. Jordan was single and didn’t seem to
appreciate the balancing act that married project members all experienced,
especially those with his children.
Besides, Jordan seemed to lack confidence in the group as a whole to do good
work and so insisted on long meetings with “thorough” discussions. It was
simpler to just divide up the work, have each member do his or part, and report
back at their meetings. Besides, he knew that only Jordan and perhaps Gary were
eager to meet at such inconvenient times and for such long sessions. The other
three would agree with Drew if push came to shove. And it was time for shove.

Overtime Blues
It was only Tuesday, but already Jordan was dreading the upcoming meeting
Friday afternoon. She knew Drew would be angry about the time, but felt she
had no choice but to call it for 4:30pm. Her boss had not been keen on her joining
the project team and had made it clear that there would be little time off except
for Friday afternoons. What with more cutbacks rumoured in the department,
Jordan couldn’t afford to irritate the boss. The others in the group either had
supportive supervisors or were their own boss. They didn’t appear to appreciate
her situation; either that or they chose to ignore it. Besides which, the rest were
all men, and she felt they ignored her ideas and concerns in general, perhaps
without even realizing it. She had trouble with Drew in particular, although she
liked him well enough at first. He was so dominating and always seemed to ram
through his ideas and agendas as quickly as possible and then leave for another
appointment. She knew that Gary was also concerned that their meetings were
too short and superficial, but was not willing to “rock the boat.”

Conflict Analysis
Element Causes of Conflict Possible Prevention or
Solution
Structure
Interests
Data
Values
Relationships

The Moore Model
The Moore model suggests that you can
'contain’ or manage relationship conflicts
and you can work around value conflicts
but you cannot directly solve either.
It argues you should contain those two
first then focus the conflict into the
remaining three areas where solutions are
possible.

Conflict Analysis
Element Causes of Conflict Possible Prevention or
Solution
Structure
Interests
Data
Values Work around values
conflicts
Relationships Contain or manage
relationships conflict

Conflict Analysis
Element Causes of Conflict Possible Prevention or Solution
Structure Change variables blocking cooperation: i.e:
opposing goals, time pressures, distance,
location, authority imbalance, etc.
Interests Ask members to express aims and needs. Assess
areas of agreement/disagreement. Create
options. Find a joint solution.
Data Agree on which data are important, how to
collect them and their meaning. Agree on a
problem-solving approach.
Values Remove values from decision-making. Allow
parties to disagree on values. Search for
superordinate goals.
Relationships Control emotions through process. Encourage
good listening. Give opportunity to express
views. Remove toxicity. Depersonalize conflict.

N.B.
DO NOT AVOID CONFLICT:
• Acknowledge the issue
• Discuss it
• Develop a process for managing it

NOW WHAT?
WHERE DO WE GO
FROM HERE?

Need to know more?
Contact me for more
information about our in-
house training or a free trial
of our online course in Team
Building
DrCarol@warpspeedtraining.com

Building a high performing team

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