Is your startup team on firm or shaky ground?

What does it take to build a high-performance team that not only delivers exceptional results but also maintains a healthy team culture? The answer lies not just in the output produced but also in the sustainability of the methods employed. Startups of necessity must be in high gear, hitting the road running. However sub-optimal team mechanics can unhinge both the people and the performance.

Great startup teams don’t emerge by chance; they are the result of intentional design and structure, guided by clear values. These ten principles ensure that teams can achieve outstanding outcomes while also preserving the well-being and engagement of their members.

1. Purpose—is the reason for you being a team clear and communicated?

Typical issue: Conflicting priorities in team operations

Resolution: Revisit the original reason to have the team to begin with and re-energize its interpretation in the light of current realities.

2. Standards—are your rules of engagement defined and followed? Are the purposes for your meetings designated and adhered to? Are you all responding appropriately in designated channels to requests and information?

Typical issue: Lack of rigor in team engagements and structures, especially standards for meetings and digital communications,

Resolution: Have the team clarify what behaviors and practices are OK, and which are not, to fulfill team purpose.

3. Roles—is everyone clear about their specific accountabilities?

Typical issue: Members are not sure who of them is accountable to finalize what they are working on.

Resolution: Clearly outlined and reviewable accountabilities for the project pieces.

4. Flexibility—how quickly does your team readjust its priorities and activities, given unexpected circumstances?

Typical issue: Keeping on keeping on with what has been going on, without awareness or integration of the new reality.

Resolution: Team meeting to discuss, analyze, and recalibrate priorities, projects, and actions.

5. Capturing—how quickly and completely are the things that have the team’s attention identified and objectified?

Issue: Stuff is going on not acknowledged or considered in the team focus.

Resolution: A group “data dump”—list everything (little or big) that has anyone’s attention about the team situation and circumstance.

6. Clarifying—how consistently are projects desired and actions required decided, and owners designated for them?

Typical issue: Lots of talk and no decisions about what to do about something, and who’s going to do it.

Resolution: Define outcomes desired and action(s) required for whatever has the team’s attention.

7. Organizing—how completely are team projects named and the list of them kept in a trusted, accessible place?

Typical issue: Lots of activity going on, but lack of clarity about the status of the moving parts.  Inability to say “no” because there’s no complete inventory of team commitments.

Resolution: Have a team projects list, accessible to all, kept current and complete.

8. Reviewing and reflecting—is your team’s inventory of its projects and activities monitored and updated with appropriate frequency?

Typical issue: Inability to say “no” because there’s no review of the complete inventory of team commitments and deadlines. Missed opportunities and lack of rigor in team focus.

Resolution: Whoever owns the team’s output consistently evaluates the status of the team’s moving parts at appropriate intervals to keep things on “cruise control.”

9. Open conversation—is everyone on the team comfortable speaking out about what has their attention?

Typical issue: Extroverts run roughshod over introverts who won’t speak up.

Resolution: Ensure safe space for all team members to contribute thoughts and ideas.

10. Trust—are people on the team keeping or appropriately renegotiating their agreements?

Typical issue: Things fall through the cracks creating stress and necessity for more meetings to repair the situation.

Resolution: Every team member is held accountable consistently for their commitments and renegotiating them if necessary.

High-performance teams are adaptive, communicative, and resilient. Implementing these ten elements ensures that your startup team doesn’t just function but thrives. These conditions, while straightforward to establish, require consistent effort and commitment. They don’t automatically fall into place; they’re not hard, but they need to be actively managed and nurtured.

But when these elements are effectively integrated into your team’s dynamics, you create an environment where high performance is not only possible but sustainable and healthy.

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David Allen, known for his expertise in productivity, boasts 40 years of experience as a management consultant and executive coach. Dubbed the “personal productivity guru” by Fast Company and one of the top 5 executive coaches by Forbes Magazine, his bestselling book “Getting Things Done” spawned a global movement known as “GTD”.

Now, his latest book, “Team“, explores collaboration and effective group work, offering a roadmap for building a culture of healthy high performance. For customers in the US, there’s a 45 per cent discount-click here.