Building a high performance team

Building a high performing team is essential to achieve and sustain organisational success but what are the key features of high performance?

Quite simply when trust is high between managers and their teams, engagement is high and performance is maximised. So how is trust built and cultivated?

Seven guaranteed ways to build trust in your team

1. Walk your talk: employees have increased respect for managers who are congruent, lead by example and are not just full of “management speak” and the latest managerial techniques. Are you clear about your own values? How are these expressed in your actions?
   
2. Give specific work-based recognition: extensive research has shown that appreciation for a job well done is hugely motivating for employees. This appreciation needs to be specific and not a generalised “keep up the good work whoever you are and whatever you’re doing”!
   
3. Involve people in decisions that affect them: in research conducted by the CIPD, “being in on things” emerged as one of the top motivators for employees in the UK. Adopting a consultative approach means engaging in genuine dialogue and developing an interdependent rather than independent style of leadership
   
4. Keep your promises: trust is built when managers do what they say they will do
   
5. Apologise when you get it wrong: from time to time you will make mistakes: instead of blaming the next management tier, accept personal responsibility and be explicit about your own learning.
   
6. Actively listen to your staff: this means listening to understand the perspective of another rather than seeking to be understood, or defend or explain your own position
   
7. Celebrate what is good and build a strengths based culture: what is going well in your team, organisation? And how can it be made even better. What are the strengths of your team members and how can they be developed? 
   
   Trust is the currency with which we invest in those we lead.