This document provides guidance on leading high-performance teams by focusing on key factors like results, commitment, processes, communication, and trust. It outlines specific transition plans and activities that teams can implement to improve in each factor, such as developing a clear purpose statement and goals to increase results, setting ground rules to build commitment, establishing processes for effective meetings and decision making, and activities for strengthening communication and trust among team members. The overall guidance is aimed at helping teams maximize their performance through attention to these critical success factors.

1. How to Lead High
Performance Teams
By: Romains Bos

2. • Introduction
• Leading High-Performance Teams
• Team Success Factors
• Rating The Factors
• Increasing The Focus on RESULTS
• Building Team Member COMMITMENT
• Improving Team PROCESSES
• Improving Team COMMUNICATION
• Building TRUST Within The Team
• Team Performance Model
• Foundations of Project Success
Agenda

3. • Increasing the focus on RESULTS
Transition plan: Developing a purpose statement
Transition plan: Refining a purpose statement
Transition plan: Developing critical goals
• Building team member COMMITMENT
Transition plan: Setting team ground rules
Transition plan: Identifying benefits
• Improving team PROCESSES
Transition plan: Improving how the team records, communicates, and executes actions and
agreements
Transition plan: Improving how the team conducts meetings
Transition plan: Improving how the team makes decisions
• Improving team COMMUNCIATION
Transition plan: Setting communication ground rules
Transition plan: Improving conflict resolution
Transition plan: Sharing information
• Building TRUST within the team
Transition plan: Increasing trust
Additional activities for building or maintaining trust
Introduction

4. Team Success Factors
RESULTS
COMMITMENT
PROCESS
COMMUNICATION
TRUST

5. Rating The Factors
RESULTS
COMMITMENT
PROCESS
COMMUNICATION
TRUST 5 - Strong
4 - More than
satisfactory
3 - Satisfactory
2 - Less than
satisfactory
1 - Weak

6. Team Success Factors
LIMITERS
Teams hold themselves back when they do
things such as:
ENABLERS
Teams can move forward when they
have things such as:
RESULTS
•Disagree on how to use resources
•Carry out individual responsibilities and put off team
responsibilities
•Disagree on priorities
•Compete for recognition, resources, or personal gain
•A clear, important, and accepted purpose statement
•Understood and accepted short – and long-term team
goals
•Regular reviews of and discussions about team results
•Team wide understanding of how team results support the
organization
•Team celebrations of successes
COMMITMENT
•Neglect to support team decisions
•Withhold feedback to fellow members about mistakes
or poor performance
•Refuse to challenge the leader
•Avoid volunteering to help or don’t cooperate with one
another
•Look to the leader to make most of the decisions or to
take corrective actions
•Understood and accepted team member performance
objectives
•Understood and accepted ground rules for working
together
•Regular reviews of team members’ results and
contributions to team success
•Regular, open exchanges of positive and developmental
feedback
•Understood and accepted benefits of participating on the
team

7. LIMITERS
Teams hold themselves back when they do
things such as:
ENABLERS
Teams can move forward when they
have things such as:
PROCESS
•Allow meetings to go off course or end them without
reaching agreement
•Neglect to share information and knowledge outside of
meetings
•Miss or delay opportunities, appointments, or
assignments
•Expand excessive time or resources in completing
tasks
•Understood and accepted roles and responsibilities
•Efficient methods for reviewing the effectiveness of work
and team processes
•Understood and accepted ground rules for sharing
information and knowledge
•Agreed-upon and documented actions and deadlines
•An effective process for making team decisions
•Meetings that follow an agenda that has been distributed
in advance and reflects team members’ input
COMMUNICATION
•Withhold information in meetings
•Let conflicts or disagreements go unresolved
•Neglect to listen to one another
•Quickly judge and reject ideas
•Allow a few people to dominate meetings
•Equal opportunity to participate and offer opinions
•Understood and accepted ground rules for resolving
conflict
•Openness to new ideas and opinions
•Recognition of team members who use effective
communication skills
Team Success Factors – Cont’d

8. LIMITERS
Teams hold themselves back when they do
things such as:
ENABLERS
Teams can move forward when they
have things such as:
TRUST
•Act on assumptions
•Refuse to admit mistakes or ask for help
•Disregard individual needs or expectations
•Break promises
•Mistakes viewed as learning opportunities
•Willingness to ask other team members for help
•Differences of style and opinion that are leveraged rather
than discouraged
•Willingness to share thoughts, feelings, and rationale
Team Success Factors – Cont’d

9. LIMITERS
Teams hold themselves back when they do things such as:
ENABLERS
Teams can move forward when they have things such as:RESULTS
•Disagree on how to use resources
•Carry out individual responsibilities and put off team
responsibilities
•Disagree on priorities
•Compete for recognition, resources, or personal gain
•A clear, important, and accepted purpose statement
•Understood and accepted short – and long-term team goals
•Regular reviews of and discussions about team results
•Team wide understanding of how team results support the
organization
•Team celebrations of successes
COMMITMENT
•Neglect to support team decisions
•Withhold feedback to fellow members about mistakes or poor
performance
•Refuse to challenge the leader
•Avoid volunteering to help or don’t cooperate with one another
•Look to the leader to make most of the decisions or to take
corrective actions
•Understood and accepted team member performance objectives
•Understood and accepted ground rules for working together
•Regular reviews of team members’ results and contributions to team
success
•Regular, open exchanges of positive and developmental feedback
•Understood and accepted benefits of participating on the team
PROCESS
•Allow meetings to go off course or end them without reaching
agreement
•Neglect to share information and knowledge outside of
meetings
•Miss or delay opportunities, appointments, or assignments
•Expand excessive time or resources in completing tasks
•Understood and accepted roles and responsibilities
•Efficient methods for reviewing the effectiveness of work and team
processes
•Understood and accepted ground rules for sharing information and
knowledge
•Agreed-upon and documented actions and deadlines
•An effective process for making team decisions
•Meetings that follow an agenda that has been distributed in advance
and reflects team members’ input
COMMUNICATION
•Withhold information in meetings
•Let conflicts or disagreements go unresolved
•Neglect to listen to one another
•Quickly judge and reject ideas
•Allow a few people to dominate meetings
•Equal opportunity to participate and offer opinions
•Understood and accepted ground rules for resolving conflict
•Openness to new ideas and opinions
•Recognition of team members who use effective communication
skills
TRUST
•Act on assumptions
•Refuse to admit mistakes or ask for help
•Disregard individual needs or expectations
•Break promises
•Mistakes viewed as learning opportunities
•Willingness to ask other team members for help
•Differences of style and opinion that are leveraged rather than
discouraged
•Willingness to share thoughts, feelings, and rationale

10. • Developing a purpose statement
– Preparation
• Schedule a meeting for writing a team purpose statement. Before the
meeting ask the team members to write a brief statement (35 words or
less) describing why the team exists. Team members should be prepared
to post and discuss their statements at the meeting
Increasing The Focus On RESULTS

11. • Developing a purpose statement
– Discussion
• Present individual statements
• Select common elements
• Write the initial purpose statement
• Test the purpose statement
• Publicize the purpose statement
Increasing The Focus On RESULTS – Cont’d

12. • Refining a purpose statement
– Preparation
• Schedule a meeting for refining an existing team purpose statement.
Before the meeting ask the team members to review and edit the current
purpose statement. Team members should be prepared to post and
discuss their edited statements at the meeting
Increasing The Focus On RESULTS – Cont’d

13. • Refining a purpose statement
– Discussion
• Present individual edited statements
• Select common elements
• Write the refined purpose statement
• Test the purpose statement
• Publicize the purpose statement
Increasing The Focus On RESULTS – Cont’d

14. • Developing critical goals
– Preparation
• Schedule a meeting to develop critical goals
Increasing The Focus On RESULTS – Cont’d

15. • Developing critical goals
– Discussion
• Identify critical organizational and customer expectations
• Choose the critical expectations
• Write team goals
• Test the goals
• Track and display the results
Increasing The Focus On RESULTS – Cont’d

16. • Setting team ground rules
– Preparation
• Schedule a team meeting to set ground rules. Before the meeting ask
the team members to think about and list some ground rules for how
they will work together as a team. They should consider topics such
as:
– Attendance and participation at team meetings
– Giving and receiving feedback within the team
– Fulfilling responsibilities and commitments
– Resolving differences within the team
– Communicating with one another
Building Team Member COMMITMENT

17. • Setting team ground rules
– Discussion
– Present each team member’s list of ground rules
– Select common ground rules
– Determine tracking methods and consequences
– Determine how to exchange feedback on observing the ground rules
Building Team Member COMMITMENT – Cont’d

18. • Identifying benefits
– Preparation
• Schedule a team meeting to identify how team members hope to benefit
from being part of the team. Before the meeting ask team members to
make a list of things they expect to gain, such as:
– Recognition
– The feeling of making a difference to the organization
– New or improved skills
– Bonuses or other rewards
– The feeling of being a part of something important
Building Team Member COMMITMENT – Cont’d

19. • Identifying benefits
– Discussion
• Present each person’s list of things he or she expects to gain by being
on the team
• Discuss the list
• Determine when and how to measure team members’ satisfaction with
the benefits they are gaining
• Summarize and schedule follow-up
Building Team Member COMMITMENT – Cont’d

20. • Improving how the team records, communicates, and
executes actions and agreements
– Preparation
• Schedule a team meeting to improve the process for handling actions
and agreements
Improving Team PROCESSES

21. • Improving how the team records, communicates, and
executes actions and agreements
– Discussion
• Reach agreement on what needs to be improved
• Determine what actions your team will take to address the practices
that the team currently is not following at all or is not following
effectively
• Document actions and agreements and set a follow-up date to assess
improvement
Improving Team PROCESSES – Cont’d

22. • Improving how the team conducts meetings
– Preparation
• Schedule a team meeting to improve the process for conducting
meetings
Improving Team PROCESSES – Cont’d

23. • Improving how the team conducts meetings
– Discussion
• Reach agreement on what needs to be improved
• Determine what actions your team will take to address the practices
that the team currently is not following at all or is not following
effectively
• Document actions and agreements and set a follow-up date to assess
improvement
Improving Team PROCESSES – Cont’d

24. • Improving how the team conducts meetings
– Preparation
• Schedule a team meeting to improve the process for making team
decisions
Improving Team PROCESSES – Cont’d

25. • Improving how the team conducts meetings
– Discussion
• Reach agreement on what needs to be improved
• Determine what actions your team will take to address the practices
that the team currently is not following at all or is not following
effectively
• Document actions and agreements and set a follow-up date to assess
improvement
Improving Team PROCESSES – Cont’d

26. • Setting communication ground rules
– Preparation
• Schedule a team meeting to set communication ground rules or
revise existing ones. Before the meeting ask team members to think
about and list some ground rules related to areas such as:
– Listening
– Participation
– Clarity
– Creativity
– Openness
– Respect
Improving Team COMMUNICATION

27. • Setting communication ground rules
– Discussion
• Present each team member’s list of ground rules
• Select common ground rules
• Determine what actions the team will take to follow the ground rules
• Document and publish ground rules
Improving Team COMMUNICATION – Cont’d

28. • Improving conflict resolution
– Preparation
• Schedule a team to improve the way the team resolves conflict
Improving Team COMMUNICATION – Cont’d

29. • Setting communication ground rules
– Discussion
• Reach agreement on what needs to be improved
• Determine what actions your team will take to address the practices
that the team currently is not following at all or is not following
effectively
• Document actions and agreements and set a follow-up date to assess
improvement
Improving Team COMMUNICATION – Cont’d

30. • Sharing information
– Preparation
• Schedule a meeting to discuss what information each team member
needs and how the team might share information with each one
another. Ask each team member to create one list containing the
information he or she needs to have to perform his or her
responsibilities and, if known, who provides the information. Ask them to
create a second list containing the information they think others need
from them
Improving Team COMMUNICATION – Cont’d

31. • Sharing information
– Discussion
• Identify the information that needs to be shared
• Identify any gaps in information sharing
• Determine actions that will close the gaps
• Document agreements and distribute a summary of agreements and
actions to all team members
• Set a follow-up date to assess information sharing
Improving Team COMMUNICATION – Cont’d

32. • Increasing trust
– Preparation
• Schedule a meeting that gives team members the opportunity to get to known
one another on a more personal level. Explain that when team members share
information about themselves and learn more about one another’s
background, trust begins to grow and they can reach a deeper level of mutual
understanding and acceptance.
• Ask the team members to come to the meeting prepared to share information
about themselves, such as:
– Education
– Work experience
– Something personal they’d like to share
– Hobbies and interests
– Likes and dislikes about the job
– Things to eliminate in the job
• Note: Be sure no to create the impression that people will be pressured
into revealing personal information that they might feel uncomfortable
sharing
Building TRUST Within The Team

33. • Additional activities for building or maintaining trust
– Discussion
• Have each team member complete a “social style” or “interpersonal style”
inventory. These inventories provide an assessment of people’s motivations,
communication styles, and interpersonal styles. Have a trained or certified
facilitator lead the team through a discussion of team member's similarities
and differences in styles. Such a discussion can help the team better
understand and value individual differences
• Plan social activities as a team. For example:
– Game (competitive, group problem-solving, etc.)
– Picnic
– Lunch or dinner
– Sporting event
• Conduct a feedback session in which each team member receives feedback
from the other team members about:
– One major strength
– One thing the person could do differently to help the team be successful
Building TRUST Within The Team – Cont’d

34. 1.
Orientation
WHY
am I here?
2.
Trust
Building
WHO are
you?
3.
Goal
clarification
WHAT are we
doing?
5.
Implementation
WHO does WHAT,
WHEN, WHERE ?
6.
High
performance
WOW!
7.
Renewal
WHY
continue?
4.
Commitment
HOW will we
do it?
Unresolved
Team Performance Model (TPM)
Relationship
Creating Sustaining
Task Alignment

35. TPM – Cont’d
1.
Orientation
WHY
am I here?
2.
Trust
Building
WHO are
you?
3.
Goal
clarification
WHAT are we
doing?
5.
Implementation
WHO does WHAT,
WHEN, WHERE ?
6.
High
performance
WOW!
7.
Renewal
WHY
continue?
4.
Commitment
HOW will we
do it?
Creating Sustaining
Relationship
Unresolved
• Disorientation
• Uncertainty
• Fear
Task
Unresolved
• Caution
• Mistrust
• FacadeResolved
• Purpose
• Team identity
• Membership
Unresolved
• Apathy
• Skepticism
• Irrelevant competition
Unresolved
• Conflict / confusion
• Nonalignment
• Missed deadlines
Resolved
• Mutual regard
• Forthrightness
• Reliability
Unresolved
• Dependence
• Resistance
Resolved
• Basic assumptions
• Clear, integrated goals
• Shared vision
Resolved
• Assigned roles
• Allocated resources
• Decisions made
Resolved
• Clear processes
• Alignment
• Disciplined execution
Resolved
• Spontaneous
interaction
• Synergy
• Surpassing
results
Unresolved
• Overload
• Disharmony
Unresolved
• Boredom
• Burnout
Resolved
• Recognition & celebration
• Change mastery
•Staying power
Alignment

36. 1. Orientation
When teams are forming
everybody wonders WHY
they are here, what their
potential fit is and
whether others will accept
them. People need some
kind of answer to
continue.
Purpose:
Understand what the
group is formed to do;
members see that as
acceptable challenge;
there is sense that the
team is important to the
organization.
Team Identity:
Members know that they
have a contribution to
make; that they are
qualified to do so; and
that t team purpose
represents the work they
want to do.
Membership:
Feel included by the other
members; have sense of
ownership; feel pride of
involvement.
2. Trust Building
Next, people want to know
WHO they will work with –
their expectations,
agendas and
competencies. Sharing
builds trust and a free
exchange among team
members.
Mutual Regard:
Understand what the
group is formed to do;
members see that as
acceptable challenge;
there is sense that the
team is important to the
organization.
Forthrightness:
Members know that they
have a contribution to
make; that they are
qualified to do so; and that
t team purpose represents
the work they want to do.
Reliability:
Feel included by the other
members; have sense of
ownership; feel pride of
involvement.
3. Goal Clarification
The more concrete work of the
team begins with clarity about
team goals, basic assumptions
and vision. Terms and definitions
come to the fore. WHAT are the
priorities?
Explicit Assumptions:
What are the members’ basic
assumptions, premises and
philosophy, reconcile and
acknowledge differences.
Clear, Integrate Goals:
Members share an explicit
understanding of goals and
priorities, and how they fit
together.
Shared Vision:
Consensus about the results
wanted, everyone is committed
to moving ahead.
4. Commitment
At some point discussions
need to end and decisions
must be made about HOW
resources, time, staff – all
the bottom line
constraints – will be
managed. Agreed roles are
the key
Assigned Roles:
What needs to be done to
meet goal, who is
responsible, and how roles
fit together.
Allocated Resources:
Material, money, people,
space needed to do the
job. Resources are
dedicated and priorities
clear.
Membership:
Clear organizational
support structure, decision
process, and
communication network.

37. 5. Implementation
Teams turn the corner when
they begin to sequence work and
settle on WHO does WHAT,
WHEN and WHERE in action.
Timing and scheduling dominate
this stage.
Clear Processes:
Processes continue to be clearly
defined, show who does what,
when, where.
Alignment:
Roles fit together, people
support the same objectives,
work is integrated.
Disciplined Execution:
Team works smoothly, with good
timing, and positive results.
6. High Performance
When methods are mastered, a
team can begin, to change its
goals and flexibly respond to the
environment. The team can say *
WOW! * and surpass
expectations.
Spontaneous Interaction:
Team and team members are
themselves, exercise freedom in
the way they work.
Synergy:
Transcend expectations and
capabilities, whole greater than
parts, model performance for the
whole organization.
Surpassing Results:
Anticipate each others’ needs, use
shorthand communication,
develop implicit trust by knowing
preferences and styles, achieve
exceptional results.
7. Renewal
Team are dynamic. People get
tired; members change. People
wonder << WHY continue >>? It’s
time to harvest learning and
prepare for a new cycle of action.
Recognition & Celebration:
Take time to rejoice in
accomplishments celebrate work
well done, refresh themselves.
Change Mastery:
Feel included by other members,
acquire a sense of ownership, feel
pride of involvement.
Staying Power:
Able to handle changes in
membership, adjust to new
phases of work, take time to
reorient to changes in team
needs and vision.

38. Foundations of Project Success
Scope and Requirements
Schedule
Project Success
Quality
Cost
Integrity and Safety

39. The
End
Questions?
Comments?