7 practical tips to help you improve your team’s performance

If you manage people in any capacity, you will most likely always be looking for ways to improve your team’s performance.

Having a team that performs well together leads to increased trust, better communication, improved efficiency, and higher productivity – all of which benefits the entire business.

However a high performing team isn’t always easy to achieve, and on top of the usual challenges, working remotely has placed new hurdles in the way of improving performance.

Whether you are working with a new or established team, here are some simple but highly impactful steps you can take to help you.

1.    Be clear on the team’s purpose and direction.

Instead of just telling your team what to do and focusing on the task, have a discussion. Spend time providing context and educate them about the wider business strategy and goals, what the company is trying the achieve, and the company values.

You will see a number of benefits from taking the time to inform your team. The first is that they will understand how their roles contribute to the overall success of the business. This builds engagement, and engaged employees are more likely to take initiative.

Secondly, when employees understand the business strategy and goals they can be innovative and create ideas to support the strategy. For Example: When systems are automated and supported with new technology or when employees introduce processes because people have a clearer understanding of the task and the strategy.

You can share the business strategy in a number of ways. This could be a formal PowerPoint presentation (yawn!), or it could be a more engaging video from key employees in the business, a big picture, or storyboard to visually explain the business strategy. This shouldn’t be a one-off activity, it needs to be regularly communicated and then reviewed and updated so that it is kept current and live for employees. By treating your team like adults and giving them more information you will find that they behave like adults, working cohesively towards the business strategy.

2.    Ensure your teams have the skills they need to do the job.

Once you have the context and strategy clearly explained to your teams then you need to ensure that they have the skills they need to do the job. This doesn’t mean only recruiting fully trained employees with 10+ years of experience. This means taking the time to appreciate the skills and capability within your team, and then identifying the gaps and creating a simple plan to develop the missing skills.

This doesn’t have to be a complicated and bureaucratic process, it can be a relatively simple series of conversations with your team, followed by ensuring there’s a shared understanding on how to close those skills gaps. This might be a formal course but it’s often easier and more cost effective to start by looking at what training can be delivered in house. Consider peer to peer training or utilise e-learning, although please think about all those people who might be zoom-weary and may appreciate a face-to-face learning experience.

3.    Provide your team the tools, resources, and environment to do the job to the best of their ability. 

Having the right environment and physical tools is essential for your teams to be able to carry out their roles effectively, especially if remote working.

• Do they have the right equipment?
• Are the company processes slick or clunky and bureaucratic?
• Do you have systems that follow the processes? Are they fit for purpose?
• Is there anything that can be standardised or automated?
• Have your team been taking their holidays, are rested, and looking after themselves or are they all overworked, stressed out and knackered?

Don’t forget, the mental and physical wellbeing of your team needs to be looked after as well! This is arguably the most important tool of all.

4.    Build a relationship and encourage good quality working relationships within your team.

According to research, good work relationships are linked to increased engagement, better customer engagement and increased profit.

I once worked in a business where the easiest way to look good was to make others look bad. As you can imagine, it was a horrible place to work. No-one trusted each other, everyone blamed each other, and issues were never fixed. The staff turnover was really high, and the amount of HR issues meant that managers spent more time sorting out problems with the team than delivering to the customer. The owner ended up hating being in the business until we turned it around and provided lots of support to the managers and focused on developing a different company culture.

Humans are naturally social creatures, focusing on building good quality relationships with your teams will make the workplace a more enjoyable place to be and have a positive impact on culture and performance levels.

If working remotely, it’s more important than ever to focus on building connections with your team. Set up regular chats with each individual and dedicate time to catching up on a more informal level – and encourage your team do the same with each other!

5.    Flex your management style

It’s important to remember to flex your management style; not everyone works in the same way. To maximise performance, you need to figure out what works for each member of your team and how to get the best out of them.

Who needs structure and detail to feel informed before they make a decision, whereas who needs room to be creative and think out loud?

Who needs assurance that the team are being considered and want the opportunity to be involved or collaborate, and who wants to be left alone to get on with a task?

To be able to properly understand your teams needs and working style, think about your own style of management. Once you understand yourself, you begin to understand how you’re different to other people. Once you see these differences, you can start to realise how to flex your management to suit each member of your team.

6.    Tackle poor performance quickly. 

If you have a poor performer in your team don’t live with it, deal with it – and quickly!

Firstly, if you don’t speak to the person who isn’t performing as they should be, they don’t know they need to improve, meaning nothing will change and it will only get worse. Secondly, if poor performance is accepted then you are demonstrating the quality of work you are willing to tolerate. Not only will their performance drop but they will most likely lose respect for you for accepting the poor performance in the first place.

7.    Celebrate success.

For employees to feel motivated, you need to be making sure their achievements are seen, valued, and appreciated. This doesn’t have to be huge parties and bottles of champagne. Regularly look for small wins, great behaviour, contributions that have moved the business forward and support within the team, then name it, call it out, say thank you. If you know your teams then you will know how they like to be thanked!

These gestures can go a long way, especially in the virtual world of remote working.