Building and Leading High Performing Teams

The collective effort of the individuals in a group to accomplish a shared goal in a well-organized and effective way is termed as teamwork. This concept is reflected within a larger group structure, which is a group of mutually dependent people functioning together towards a shared goal. Teams require to be able to develop means to be productive in places such as meeting spaces, organizational support sessions, training, and seminars, etc. Building and leading high performing teams depend on the behavior of the leaders. According to Folkman, team leaders are an inspiration for the members as they boost energy and enthusiasm in the team, making each member feel equally important for the task. In high-performing teams, leaders quickly and directly resolve conflicts between members so that there is no competition in between. Hence, the team can perform effectively through cooperating with each other.

Team development theories were proposed by various authors such as Shephard and Bennis, Bion, Kormanski and Mozentar, Tuckman, and Gibb. Bruce Tuckman, a psychologist was the first person who proposed the five-stage team development theory model, in 1965. According to his theory, the five stages in the model were forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. The five stages proposed evaluated the attitude of members from the formation of the team to the accomplishment of the objective Forming was the initial step to team development when the members explored and understood the behavior of their colleagues. In the storming stage, the members begin to compete for leadership and power in the group. As a result, the difference between interpersonal skills and attitude to work creates conflicts in a team. However, in the norming stage, members start to balance the conflicting forces by developing group norms to have cooperative feelings and work cohesively. In the performing stage, the team members perform the task to accomplish the objectives they had established initially while simultaneously working on their relations. In the last stage, adjourning, the team members part ways after the project is over.

Kormanski and Mozenter in 1987 proposed a theory on team development which was based on five stages. Each stage had a task and relationship consequence. The stages were named as awareness, conflict, cooperation, productivity, and separation. The main theme of the stages was similar to the stages proposed by the theory of Tuckman, however, this theory helped in working on time-bound projects in which a high sense of satisfaction among team members was required to be developed rapidly.

According to the theory proposed by Douglas Smith and Jon Katzenbach in 2019, the team performance depends on a triangular model, with its edges point to the three functions of a team that is, collective work products, performance results, and personal growth.

Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger proposed the T7 model in 1995 based on leadership within teams. The model identified five internal and two features that promote team performance. Internal team characteristics are elevated such as resilience, trust, talent, team skills, and performance skills. While external features were the ideal team leader and group support from the organization. For a team to perform well on projects and tasks, it must integrate these elements as they help build a bond between members and leaders and enable them to perform tasks easily. This model has been identified as one of the most effective models for building and leading high performing teams.

Frank LaFasto and Carl Larson designed a model in 2005, named the five dynamics of teamwork and collaboration, which was based on the components which increased the effectiveness of the team. The five key points were the team member, team relationship, team problem solving, team leadership, and organizational environment. The members of an organization share a collective sense of thinking, team ownership, authority, and responsibility of outcomes. Due to this, equal opportunities are available to each member and they are accountable for their work. An organization works best when all the members are working towards a common aim. Furthermore, this creates a relationship of trust and group identity among the members. When they work together they present the idea of strong leadership and work effectively and efficiently with full productivity.

While there are numerous models proposed for team leadership, the best is considered to be Hill’s Team model as it provided the leader with a road map that helps in diagnosing team problems. There are four layers in the model, the top, second, third, and bottom layer. The top layer is based on effective team performance that is due to the leader’s mental capacity and his action and monitoring of the team. The second layer is based on the external and internal leadership evaluation comparing the importance of the role played by both. The third layer evaluates the environmental conditions of a team which impact the decision making of a leader. Lastly, the bottom layer is used to examine the previous three steps that are resulted due to the high performance and development of the team during the project. Hence, making it an effective team leadership model.

Group leadership models can assist an individual to focus on the factors that will help in changing leadership style at different stages of team growth. Teams are one of the most significant requirements in an organization to work on projects where leaders use different styles and ideas to conclude the work. Furthermore, there are many leadership perspectives each focusing on different scenarios that help leaders to think about decision making and adapt to a style depending on one’s courage and confidence. The team leadership models require to be more focused on the team development phase rather than leadership style. An individual who removes the complications faced by the employees and motivates them to work productively is termed as an effective leader. It is part of a leader’s job to act as a channel between management and the workers. It is the responsibility of the top leader of a company to make sure each employee gets an equal opportunity in any task.

In present times teamwork is essential for organizations to work competently. According to Katzenbach and Smith, individuals should function with cooperation when in a group. The elements required in a team to work efficiently are common commitment and purpose, complementary skills, specific performance goals, individual accountability, and commitment to work. However, these skills are different from the classic working group which was focused on mutual accountabilities, focused leaders, and work products.