This is the last part of a 3 part series around signs of a high performing team. I talked in the first two parts about how meetings can go. First how one meeting has seamless transitions and the second about sequential conversations across meetings. Part 3 was born when I realized I wanted to provide a reason for why teams might be in a funk of unproductive conversations. 

If these things aren’t happening, there might be a strategy problem. Richard Rumelt’s book, The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists is a great resource on strategy. I love the opening paragraph (it is really all you need to know!): 

A strategy is a mixture of policy and action designed to surmount a high-stakes challenge. It is not a goal or a wished-for end state. It is a form of problem solving, and you cannot solve a problem you do not understand or comprehend. Thus, challenge-based strategy begins with a broad description of the challenge – the problems and opportunities – facing the organization. They may be competitive, legal, due to changing social norms, or issues with the organization itself. 

As understanding deepens, the strategist seeks the crux – the one challenge that both is critical and appears to be solvable. This narrowing down is the source of much of the strategist’s power, as focus remains the cornerstone of strategy. 

One of the key parts to a great strategy that I want to highlight is narrowing down and focusing. To do this, it is not just saying what you will do but being really clear what you are not doing and why because there is a high chance someone in your company wants to do that other thing for certain reasons. 

If there is no focus and you’re doing too many things, it is going to be hard for teams to have productive and sequential conversations amongst each other. 

To be a good strategist, be very explicit about what you aren’t doing and why.

Back with a quick part 2 regarding the signs of a high performing team. Part 1 talked about creating fluidity between meeting topics as the leader. The next one is also meeting related but should be looked at over the course of a week, maybe even a couple weeks. 

The meetings a high performing team has in a week become sequential conversations. This means that the ball on a problem getting worked on continues to move forward as you stack the discussions next to each other. Teams react to setbacks or blockers, take in new information, and make quick decisions which is a nugget of gold in sequential conversations. Not everyone from the team needs to be in every meeting but often the team members that are the glue and in most should see and feel the conversations developing and stacking sequentially.

I believe a tell tale sign of a low performing team is if these sequential conversations don’t exist. What this ends up looking like is a lot of back tracking and rehashing during meetings. The ball might move forward but not as efficiently or fast as it could with sequential conversations. Things could stay in one place for a few weeks which prevents the sequential pattern we’re after as a leader to drive results and learnings. Why might sequential conversations not exist? Come back for part 3 for insights.

High performing teams can feel like magic. The right chemistry is key to creating that magic but what other components make up high performing teams? In my opinion, the answer is trust, expertise, and leadership. The team needs to trust each other, people need to be experts in their roles, and leaders need to help inspire action and foster innovation. When this happens, high performing teams can hit goals and innovate but how do you know you are onto something if the time horizon of the goal is further out? I have some thoughts and tips on what to look for.  I will share one today and one tomorrow in a brief two part series both of which are about meetings.  

Under the hood of trust, expertise, and great leadership, are tactical habits knowledge workers or leaders do to foster high performing characteristics of trust and expertise. 

Meetings get a bad rap. I am not a fan of meetings myself but I’ve learned it is really just the bad meetings I don’t like. A good meeting with a lively discussion is fun and effective. 

One thing I’ve noticed about a good meeting in a high performing team is this: there is fluidity of transitions between topics. It keeps the energy up and allows participants to understand the connections in the team’s strategic approach. I am not saying silence is bad. Slowing down in a meeting can also be effective for letting information sync in too but if you’re just letting silence happen for the sake of transitioning, I don’t see that as very purposeful. 

If you are a leader, I recommend working on meeting flow and topic transitions. Lead the participants through different connecting topics. The way to do this is preparation and flexibility. Prepare the topics and information but be flexible on where you start and go based on the discussion and feedback. It is a true blend of preparation and flexibility. Think of the flexibility like you are sailing in an ocean moving with the current of the wind where the current is the feedback you are getting from others in real time. 

Bonus: if you aren’t the meeting leader, you can still practice this. It will help you build leadership skills and trust with the meeting leader.