Join the A-Team: How Do SMEs Build a High-Performance Team?

Are you at the peak of your game and raring to go? If you are a high performer looking to strive to new heights, you should consider joining a SME that is building a high-performance team.

This “A-team” comprises of high-performing individuals that a SME owner can trust to take care of operations. It frees the SME owner up to focus on other tasks, such as planning for business development, while those in the A-team get a chance to have a say in the company and take charge of day-to-day operations.

How Do SMEs Hire for a High-Performance Team?

To form a high-performing team, SMEs need to hire the right people. While SMEs often struggle with competing against multinational companies for top talent, they also have their own strengths to attract the right people.

The next challenge in recruitment is identifying top performers within the candidate pool. Top performers do not just have excellent technical skills, but they also possess soft skills such as stress management, active learning, and confident decision-making.

During the hiring process, this is measured by administering cognitive ability tests and asking behavioural questions. The former shows candidates’ ability to solve problems and learn quickly, while the latter shows how they deal with work situations.

Candidates may be asked for more than one example of how they responded to a situation or demonstrated a particular skill. Candidates who have prepared rote answers will most likely have only one example, while high-performing people will have put their soft skills to use multiple times.

What Does a High-Performing Team Look Like?

Creating an A-team does not stop with hiring highly talented individuals, but these individuals also must be brought together into a team. No person is an island and collaboration is essential to success. Here are the traits of a high-performing team:

They share a clear goal.

In a high-performing team, everyone focuses on one goal, and they are committed to achieving it. Each team member understands their role in fulfilling the company’s mission, and all of their efforts are aligned towards meeting this single objective.

They have clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

When each individual understands what is expected of them, they can focus on delivering results. Everyone knows who does what and when to do it, and this helps prevent conflict. When each team member understands how their tasks fit into the big picture, this gives them a sense of purpose as well.

They are ambitious.

High-performing teams tend to set higher goals than average teams. It is because their members are competitive and have a can-do attitude.

They have clear communication.

The best teams have an established policy on communication channels to use in a given situation. They know when to email, send a private message, or call a meeting. This system enables the whole team to work more efficiently. They also regularly share information and update each other on their progress so everyone is on the same page.

They trust one another.

Trust is the foundation of good teamwork. Everyone believes each role will be fulfilled properly and everyone treats each other with respect and gives credit where it is due. This kind of team celebrates each other’s achievements instead of engaging in petty rivalries.

They are diverse.

The most innovative teams comprise people from various backgrounds. Colleagues from different walks of life can contribute unique perspectives. This characteristic helps the team generate fresh ideas and gain insights about a broader customer base. For example, if your company is planning to implement a work-from-home setup, the perspective of a mother could be beneficial in coming up with a flexible, family-friendly scheme. As much as possible high-performing teams integrate workers from diverse races or ethnicities, ages, gender identities, sexual orientations, religious and spiritual beliefs, and physical capabilities.

They are constantly learning.

Each member of the team constantly seeks training and development. They are eager to learn about industry trends and best practices. They are also unafraid to make mistakes and treat them as learning experiences rather than failures.

How is a High-Performance Team Built?

From an existing team.

Are you the right person for your position? Or would you be better suited to other roles? Do you have the leadership skills needed to lead a team successfully? If you are consistently underperforming or lagging behind others, it may be time to find another area where you can truly shine. You might also want to try various training programmes, such as mentorships or workshops to improve yourself.

Establish a simple and clear goal.

Ensure everyone is united toward the same goal, and do not be afraid to remind them of it until you sound like a broken record. You must make your colleagues internalise the objective so they can work toward it and make the right decisions.

The trouble comes when the company owner sets multiple goals and the team is not sure what to prioritise. According to The New York Times, the solution is to line up your priorities “as carefully as the trajectory of a rocket launch,” determine the success metrics, and measure them via a “shared scoreboard.” When everyone measures success by the same standards, they will spend less time arguing about the best course of action and whether their efforts resulted in the desired outcome.

Create a team charter.

When you lay down ground rules for how the team should work together, you create better synergy and reduce conflict. In an interview with McKinsey, Daniel Coyle, author of The Culture Playbook: 60 Highlight Effective Actions to Help Your Group Succeed, recommends asking these questions while drafting your team charter: “What tempo are we going to work at? How are we going to make decisions? How are we going to interact? How are we going to know that we’re making progress? Who are we going to for feedback?”

Share accountability.

Good team members take responsibility for their mistakes. Another vital aspect of accountability is being willing to address problems and misunderstandings promptly. It can be challenging in our conflict-averse culture, but you must have these conversations instead of sweeping them under the rug.

Empower team members to make decisions.

When members of the team own their responsibilities, they become more independent. In turn, the SME owner trust them to do their jobs well. Promoting autonomy enables the team to work efficiently by empowering managers to make decisions instead of requiring the SME owner’s approval at every stage. After all, waiting for approval from a busy executive can be a big source of delays. Besides, nothing is more demotivating than a micromanager.

Invest in training and development.

SME owners should set the team up for success by providing the resources they need to upskill and sending them to industry conferences. Coyle also recommends “flash mentoring.” As a senior or superior works on a project, they should allow colleagues with a desire to learn to shadow them and allot time to answer their questions.

For example, they can sit in a meeting and seniors or superiors can set aside five minutes for them to ask questions like “why did you present that data at the start?” In this way, things get done and people are trained simultaneously.

Implement project process tracking.

Many teams use SCRUM boards since they allow everyone to track the whole team’s progress on a project and remain on the same page. They also make it easy to spot problems and address them early.

First, SCRUM boards entail listing all the tasks the team must accomplish to complete the project. The SCRUM master then assigns them to the individuals responsible. This is called your teams “backlog.” You then break your backlog into “sprints” – a.k.a. the tasks that need to be accomplished within the week. The SCRUM system is a popular tool for projects that require agility. If you see any standouts in your team, encourage them to get a SCRUM Master Certification (CSM) to further learn the ideologies of this method.

Here’s an example of a SCRUM setup: on Mondays, hold a meeting to discuss the tasks included in this week’s sprint. It allows people to pitch ideas and bring up any obstacles to completing tasks. Then on Fridays, meet again to review your progress.

Create your team’s culture.

It is best for SME owners to be proactive about establishing a team culture. If teams are left on their own, they can develop rivalries and office politics can take hold. It is better to define organisational values and make them clear when onboarding new hires.

Creating an “A” team is not just about hiring high-performing individuals. They need to set up for success with a clear goal, investment in their development, and the creation of a culture whose values are conducive to excellent teamwork. A well-oiled machine is, after all, always more than the sum of its parts.

Now that you know what goes into building a high-performance team, consider if you have what it takes join one or how you can improve on yourself to be part of this team. Check out our Career Resources page or download JobStreet’s app available on the App Store and Google Play to learn more about pursuing the career that is right for you.