By Eliska Padilla

There are times when you are part of a group, a collection of people at the same place but with no real need for coordination or cohesion. Like if you are in New York going on a double-decker bus tour of the city. You are with a group of people, all in the same place, wanting to see the sights together but there’s no expectation or need to perform as a team. 

Then there are times when in order for your organization to accomplish aggressive goals, you need a hyper-productive team. This collection of people doing different things is clear on their mutual mission, performing as a well-oiled machine, accomplishing visionary goals, meeting deliverables and anticipating changes in the environment. 

How does a leader transform a group of individuals into a hyper-productive team? 

In order to recalibrate your teammates, you first start with aligning them and helping each to understand the team’s why. Ensuring that every member of the team understands the overarching reason why you need to do the big audacious things you need to do is essential. Casting the vision will help the team see the horizon and understand what is driving their activities. Every member of the team needs to be crystal clear on the mission, vision and goals that drive their efforts. 

Hyper-productive teams not only know their reason why, they also have clear standards for how they will function as a team. Providing leadership focus and establishing norms for how communication takes place, how results are measured, how decisions are made, even basic behaviors in the workplace is essential to capitalizing on the collective strength of the teammates. 

There are other basics that must be present for a group of individuals to form into a hyper-productive team, and this starts with a foundation of trust and respect. Individuals in the team must have confidence they know and trust their teammates, and be vulnerable enough to also be known. Trust and mutual respect is created when leaders ensure the entire team understands the importance of each member and the shared leadership responsibilities each member holds in accomplishing their goals. They need to also communicate effectively, utilizing tools like the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator or DiSC to ensure there is a respect and appreciation for differences in the workplace and practicing healthy conflict and problem-solving procedures, and adapting to change. 

The cement that glues the team together is a culture that sustains the values, behaviors and norms established by the organization. At Balanced Culture Consultants, we call this third aspect of building hyper-productive teams people systems.  Once the why and how are crystal clear, systems must be in place to reinforce, support and sustain the team as it develops. These systems include creating methods to integrate new members successfully, establishing rewards and recognition systems to reinforce positive behaviors, providing feedback through both informal and formal evaluation systems. 

The bottom line for creating hyper-productive teams is making sure everyone is on the same page at both a macro and a micro level. Know the vision, know the team and know what each person contributes and gets feedback on their contributions.