How to build a high performing top team?

Mckinsey & Company has launched a recent study on how a top team should perform in our organizations. The core idea is that if a top team fails to function, it can paralyze the whole company. On the other side, if it succeeds, the influence can impact from client satisfaction to worker productivity.

As per the article, these are the tips to get it done:

1)Get the right people on the team…and the wrong ones off: “right people in the right place” rules this tip. Most CEOs regret not employing this lever early enough and end up compromising the performance of the whole organization. Making it happen requires understanding which are the contributions that the team as a whole and each individual needs to make, so that the organization’s performance aspirations can be achieved. It also requires courage from the CEO to take the lead and keep the right team at the top.

2)Make sure the top team does just the work only it can do: what´s the percentage of time CEOs spend on strategy and people? What are they looking at? It seems they are looking at everything else without distinguishing among what they take care, what they should merely track and what should be delegated. Set priorities.

3)Address team dynamics and processes: how to foster productive collaboration instead of leading mistrust among different teams?

“The top team at a large mining company formed two camps with opposing views on how to address an important strategic challenge. The discussions on this topic hijacked the team’s agenda for an extended period, yet no decisions were made.” (Mckinsey Quarterly, 2011).

How to address team dynamics: work with the team to develop a common vision + objective understanding of why the teams are not collaborating

Summarizing:

• Each top team is unique and poses different challenges to the CEO
• CEOs must work on diagnosis and on the ground floor so that the board is aligned to achieve its strategic goals and teams are focused on the right topics.