The Four Key Characteristics for Building a High-Performing Work Team

The greatest thing a leader can build isn't a high-performing team. It's a team that believes it's capable of becoming one.

Why?

I've learned through personal experience that many leadership challenges aren't performance problems. They're belief problems.

As leaders, it is our responsibility to bring out the best in the people and teams we lead. Every day, people come to work carrying an invisible Belief Gap—the distance between what they're capable of achieving and what they believe they're capable of achieving.

Do your employees or staff believe your organization is a great place to work? The people who make up your team are looking for places to work that value their talents and empower them to perform at their best.

To have a high-performing work team that produces the results you are hungry for, you will need to incorporate the four ingredients I will share with you in this article.

I prefer to call employees or staff team members, so I'll be using that term for the rest of this article. Using the term team member versus employee can transform the mindset of the people you work with and lead.

A team means people coming together and working together to achieve a common goal. There is an old saying that “the business of business is people.” If your organization truly wants to be successful, it must concentrate on the people it employs. It must exceed their expectations. It must create opportunities for people to be involved in solving problems and achieving organizational goals. They need to believe they are a part of the solution.

A satisfied group of team members leads to a successful organization. This success is the result of high-performing teams. Positive leadership-team relationships are valued by the people you are currently working with and those you will work with in the future.

Here are four ingredients needed to foster the environment necessary to create high-performing teams—teams that believe they can produce the results everyone desires.

You must see the members of your team as a valuable resource. They are human resources.

They are people who bring a specific passion, skill, or ability needed to produce the results your organization desires. The question for leaders and organizations is: Do they see people as a resource?

A resource is something people, organizations, and governments value. It's something that is taken care of, respected, and understood as being in limited supply.

Could this be the way you train them? Could this be how you create opportunities to display their skills and abilities? Could this be how you make time to understand their motivations and goals?

As a leader who builds high-performing teams, it will be your job to make sure the leaders of your organization see your team members as a valuable resource.

When you recognize something or someone, I'm not talking about providing a gift or prize. I'm talking about recognizing in the sense of understanding someone based on previous experience or acquired knowledge.

Every person you lead brings both known and unknown talents to the table. The key is to recognize the skills they possess and understand how to use those skills to grow your organization.

You need to make time to know and understand the people you will be leading. They are not a number on a spreadsheet. They are individuals who want to feel like valuable parts of the team. They want to be contributors.

As a leader, it is up to you to make time to truly understand and know your people. How do you do this? Block out time on your calendar to meet with your team.

I know what you're saying: “This will take a lot of time,” or, even worse, “I don't have the time.”

When you see people as a resource, you're willing to invest your time in cultivating that resource. You need to create opportunities where both you and your people can get to know and understand each other better. I'm not saying you need to share all of your personal business, but you'll be working closely with them for an extended period of time, so it's vital to know more than their first and last name.

Have you considered taking your team out for a meal? What about stopping by their office to say hello? Could you host a virtual coffee meet-and-greet where you and a team member can get to know each other better?

With your creativity, the opportunities are endless as long as you are willing to make the commitment—the commitment to building a high-performing team.

We're 2 Rs down.

It's time for a very important R.

As a leader, it will be one of your responsibilities to retain team members. To do this, you'll have to develop your team members. Your goal should be to become a People Performance Leader. To retain people, you will have to train them.

If I were to write the word RETAIN on a dry-erase board, you would see the letters R-E-T-A-I-N.

If I were to move the letters around, I could transform the word RETAIN into the phrase TRAIN E.

I've learned through personal experience that retaining team members involves proper training.

You must TRAIN E: Train Everyone, Every Opportunity, Every Day, Every Chance.

Constant training is proof that you value the members of your team as a valuable resource. It's proof that you respect them and want to create opportunities for personal and professional growth.

As a leader, you must prepare your people for success. How do you do this? You can offer to mentor team members for future roles, including leadership roles. You can suggest they join a trade or professional association. You could ask your organization to create special training programs for team members who display the skills desired in internal candidates for leadership positions.

Ultimately, as a leader, you have to suggest or create opportunities that will foster an environment where people feel valued and have opportunities to advance.

How does your organization reward people for their dedication and hard work? A pay-check is expected, but when you do the unexpected, you create loyalty.

What are the fringe or extra benefits offered by an organization? Flexible hours, childcare, healthcare, career growth, education assistance, and hybrid work opportunities. People will spread the word about working with your organization.

The first three Rs were about helping you, as a leader, learn about your team. You should learn if your team members are internally or externally motivated. Do your people want a simple acknowledgment of “Great job” or “Thank you”? Or do you have people who want paid time off, a job-well-done party, or cash?

Once you learn what motivates them, it's time to do the unexpected. In a world where we want the most out of our teams, you, as a leader, must communicate with your organization the importance of giving more, too.

Make your organization one where people want to perform at their best—and believe they can—because they understand that their work will be recognized, valued, and rewarded.

As a leader, it will be up to you to think like the people you are leading. How do they want to be rewarded?

Don't be afraid to ask team members, “How would you like to be rewarded for your performance?” Can you provide everything they ask for? No, that's not realistic.

Your current position may not allow you to be the final decision-maker on rewards.

The ultimate reward for your team is showing them that you care about and value them. You're showing that their work isn't going unrecognized. You're displaying your willingness to find ways to fire up their performance.

I want you to be a leader that people respect because you are willing and able to create the environment needed to produce high-performing work teams—environments where people are valued as a Resource, Recognized for their special skills and talents, Retained through quality training and mentorship, and Rewarded for performing at a high level.

And one last thing: don't forget to reward yourself, too!

About the Author

Frank Kitchen, CSP, is a professional keynote speaker, author, and People Performance Expert who helps organizations close the Belief Gap—the distance between what people are capable of achieving and what they believe they can achieve. Known as the “Chef of Success,” Frank uses his LIVE F.R.E.S.H.™ framework and signature K.I.T.C.H.E.N. Leadership Recipe to help leaders build teams that believe, perform, and thrive.

Ready to close the Belief Gap on your team? Visit FrankKitchen.com to learn more about Frank Kitchen's leadership programs, keynote presentations, and resources designed to help organizations cook up the success they're hungry for.