Thrive in a High Performing Team
You’re passionate, talented, and hungry to do the work of your life. Being in a high-performing team helps you achieve your goals. It keeps you growing and pushing yourself to be a better person and a better designer as well. If you’re feeling like the “big fish in the small pond”, then it’s time to jump into a bigger one.
High-performing teams move fast and efficiently, whilst always pushing for excellence. If you’re the kind of person who likes to be challenged, then this is the sort of team you should seek out. Be prepared to grow exponentially, and also know that to do that you’ll need to step up and take a long hard look at yourself. It isn’t easy but it is exhilarating.
A high performing team (HPT):
- Involves & engages all team members
- Uses a blend of rational and intuitive decision making processes
- Has open & clear communication
- Values diversity in people, skills & view points
- Has established mutual trust
- Manages conflict openly and transparently
- Has clear goals
- Has defined roles & responsibilities for each team member
Being successful in this sort of setup means you have to bring your ‘A’ game every day, and defining that for yourself is crucially important to success.
Here are 5 principles to get you started:
Be outcome focused rather than output focused
Nobody will care how many hours you worked, what you checked off your to-do list or how you did things. Everyone is busy, but are you working on the things that move the needle? Your team is far more likely to care about the outcome of your work. Outcomes are all about efficiency, impact, ownership, and operating in a results-driven culture. Tasks on the other hand are more about hours worked and items crossed off a list. What you want is to have an meaningful impact. Having quarterly goals that drive you to that outcome will be much more motivating for you and your team. At Atlassian we use Google’s OKR system.
Be the change you seek
If you think the team needs a dashboard to work from or that a piece of work needs doing…do it. If there’s an annoying tech problem in a VC room that impacts meetings…file the ticket to get it fixed. If you think speaking to a particular customer is a good idea…do it. If you wish the team was more data-informed…start. The message here is ask for forgiveness rather than permission. Get things done rather than talking about them.
Feel “obligated to dissent”
When you hear something you don’t agree with or when the team decision doesn’t sound right to you (even if everyone seems to agree): say so. Speak up. It is your duty to do so. Every person on the team is smart and has invaluable insights to offer. When we speak up we allow everyone to try on a different idea for size and nudge the team towards a better outcome.
Communicate with clarity
The teams move fast. They go from idea to concept really quickly and decisions are made at speed. This is possible because team mates are aware of their communication style and that of others. They are able to share their ideas in a way that the group can consume them best. Make your point quickly, state the problem, the impact and your proposed solution. Don’t be tempted to talk more than you need to. Being economical with your words and disciplined in your communication style helps the team move faster, and ensures your contribution counts.
Feedback, feedback, feedback.
Lastly, the best way by far to ensure you are successful on any team is having a good feedback habit: make sure you ask for constructive feedback often and at key moments, like after a big project for example. Be sure to ask everyone, especially the people you struggled with (if there were any) on where they think you can improve. Constructive feedback is super important for growth, learning to give it is as important as receiving it. It will help you uncover blind spots and keep you moving forwards.
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