The Elusive High-Performance Team 

A "high-performance work team" refers to a group of goal-focused individuals with specialized expertise and complementary skills who collaborate, innovate, and produce consistently superior results. The group relentlessly pursues performance excellence through shared goals, shared leadership, collaboration, open communication, clear role expectations, group operating rules, early conflict resolution, and a strong sense of accountability and trust among its members.

So, why is it so rare to witness or experience a high-performance team?

 Many things inhibit their existence, such as virtual employees with little face-to-face interaction, matrix environments that encourage allegiance to home organizations instead of project teams, and resource management philosophies and tools that strive for partial and fragmented assignments.

Plus, the effort of creating a high-performance team is immense! Tremendous amounts of resources and time are required to create them. But, with the correct leadership and environment, the benefits of high-performance teams are invaluable because they can generate contributions greater than the sum of their parts.

Characteristics of High-Performance Teams

High-performance teams are more than a collection of people simply following orders. High-performing teams are synergistic social entities that work toward achieving a common goal or goal. They often exemplify a total commitment to the work and each other, have a crystal-clear understanding of their role, and know how to do their jobs and why they are doing them. Each member understands and supports the meaning and value of the team's mission and vision, clarifying the purpose and tying it to each person's role and responsibilities to enhance team potential.