Developing High-Performing Teams

High performing teams have common characteristics. They are an interdependent stable group of individuals who share responsibility, trust and values while having a clear focus and drive on a common goal. The value of a high performing team has long been recognised, and its why there is a 1.9 times increased likelihood of having above average financial performance when the top team is working together towards a common vision. Building and maintaining a high performing team continues to be a challenge for most organisations but the rewards you get if you do so are worth the investment.

Every team and organisation is unique and has their own strengths and challenges. Broadhead Performance prides itself on getting to know you before offering a solution.

Experience in a range of sectors informs the design of solutions that help you to become a high performing team. Areas covered include:

  • development of team vision and objectives
  • agreeing behaviours that will be reinforced and those that will be challenged
  • developing psychological safety (sharing and learning from mistakes)
  • helping people to understand each other better
  • developing more effective ways of communication
  • improving feedback and tough conversation skills
  • performing well whilst maintaining the wellbeing of employees.

Support can be provided on a short-term or long-term basis. Learning is designed so that changes are sustainable and make a difference. Having a framework to help people understand themselves and others helps people talk about areas they might otherwise find difficult.

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Case Study

Broadhead Performance was asked to help a newly formed leadership team to perform at their best. The team needed to be up to speed quickly in order to meet project deadlines and they realised that unhelpful behaviours and communication could derail them.

Interviews were carried out with each team member to understand their view of their own, and the teams, strengths and weaknesses and what they thought a high performing team would behave like.

A series of interactive workshops were delivered, showing how the mind works and why we can behave in ways that doesn’t help performance even when we don’t want to. This helped the team to understand themselves better and work out what their stress triggers were, as well as developing skills to manage them.

We talked through real work situations to help them develop practical plans to avoid the unhelpful behavioural traps they had previously been falling into it.

An example was not giving feedback or tackling difficult issues when they needed to. Having a framework helped them to improve how they dealt with these situations and gave them increased confidence. Understanding characteristics of effective leaders, and working on developing these skills, was also part of the programme.

Managing individual and team energy throughout the life of the project was identified as an area that could be improved. Through 1 to 1 and team sessions skills were developed to help people maintain their energy and drive whilst dealing with any threats or worries that were present. The team became comfortable at sharing their thoughts with each other and were able to coach each other, which helped to ensure the positive changes were sustainable.

At the end of the programme the team reported that they were better able to manage themselves at work, made decisions more effectively, were able to give each other constructive feedback and support and hit their project deadlines.

David Shaw CIO AQA

“I initially engaged with Sarah to provide individual mentoring/coaching as I am leading a challenging high stakes programme.  We are achieving the initial objectives around sustaining and incrementally improving my performance as the going inevitably gets tougher.  As a result we have extended Sarah’s role to wider team development and also some other 1:1 mentoring.
Given the holistic approach and sports pedigree, I spend about 25% of my time with Sarah focussing on my marathon running.  Directly as result of Sarah’s encouragement and ongoing support, I have gone from being an average club runner to representing England in my age group later this year.
I  – and the wider team – are delighted with the work together.  The concepts used are robust, the sports/business crossover works really well for us and, most importantly, we all think Sarah is great.  She is intelligent, perceptive and empathetic, clearly adept in applying psychological theory, balances challenge and tact very well and brings a different perspective in a way that is relevant and insightful.  Everyone buys into the process (and we are a relatively sceptical bunch) and we are seeing the beneficial outcomes where individually or collectively we apply the methods.”

HIGH PERFORMING ORGANISATIONS / CASE STUDIES

  • GB Taekwondo – Mental Heath Project
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    GB Taekwondo – Mental Heath Project

    People reported feeling better equipped to manage their own and others mental health and knew where to go for support.

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  • David Shaw – IT Director AQA
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    David Shaw – IT Director AQA

    I initially engaged with Sarah to provide individual mentoring/coaching as I am leading a challenging high stakes programme.

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  • Leadership Team
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    Leadership Team

    I was asked by an organisation to help a newly formed leadership team to perform at their best.

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  • Mental Health & Wellbeing Project
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    Mental Health & Wellbeing Project

    The organisation wanted to help people feel supported and increase their resilience, and also help spot if someone else was struggling.

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