High Performance Means Delivering

When it comes to high performance, actions speak louder than attributes. A team can wear itself out trying to acquire all eight attributes, but if it does not make use of them to get results, it is not a high-performance team. A true high-performance team is one that, like the one that handled Ortho Clinical Diagnostics' emergency on September 11, 2001, knows how to put to work the lessons it has learned.

Creating high-performance teams requires shifts in structure, roles, and behaviors that, for many organizations, represent major change. As difficult as this change may be, it is well worth making because, as many organizations move from a hierarchical to a horizontal way of operating, the need for high-performance teams intensifies. Only high-performance teams , with their superior ability to manage conflict, which is summarized in Figure 3-5, can move at the pace required in these new organizations.

How High-Performance Teams Manage Conflict

Each attribute of a high-performing team brings it one step closer to successful conflict management and, thus, to becoming a quick-acting, results-oriented force that is uniquely powered for success in today's global, horizontal organization:

• In the absence of conflict among team members about priorities and goals, no time is wasted going back over the same ground; no false starts or missteps, which squander precious time, are taken.

• When team members are competent in their function, there is no need to question their technical input. Trust becomes possible. The willingness to operate across functional lines also minimizes conflict; team members begin to view themselves as one cohesive unit.

• With the elimination of turf battles , one more obstacle to a homogenous team disappears.

• Once team members see the good of the team as their primary goal, they can set aside the personal and functional self-interests that often give rise to conflict.

• Replacing ad hoc decision making with an agreed-upon system keeps people focused, provides them with a common track for discussion and debate, and removes much of the emotional element from the process.

• Being responsible for business results gives all members of the team the same focus. Sharing accountability and ownership gives them a stake, which motivates them to work directly toward their goals.

• Being able to speak their mind freely , without fear of reprisal, and having the tools to manage conflict when it arises make team members more confident and less likely to retreat to their bunkers.

• Continual, periodic self-assessment stops destructive conflict in its tracks. As soon as the team notices the early warning signals of brewing discontent, it takes swift action to remedy the situation.

Figure 3-5: High-Performance Teams and Conflict Management.

Chapter 4 covers the process used to create high-performance teams throughout an organization.