Fifteen Key Behaviors of Excellent Organizations

Today I would like to discuss the findings of research on high performing teams that I conducted with outstanding teams in India, France, and the United States. The purpose of my research was to distill the essence of high performing teams, irrespective of culture, and to see if there were characteristics or manifestations of that essence that were different in teams from the three countries. To hold as many variables the same as possible, I used three customer support teams from Mentor Graphics, each identified by executive management, their directors, and human resources as being excellent. I used open ended interviews with team members to collect the data and phenomenology as my method of analysis. In this blog entry, I will not discuss cultural differences, only the essence of high performing teams that my research uncovered.

Based on my research, I believe the essence of high performing teams can be described as: a passionate, deep abiding, interest in and concern for teammates, customers or end users of the team’s output, key constituencies external to the team, and the work or output of the team.

So what does this really mean? I believe that high performing teams – and by extension excellent organizations – focus on four things: the quality and quantity of their work/output – why they exist organizationally; the success and professional development of organization members; the needs and expectations of their customers; and key constituencies and variables in the environment, external to the team itself. Each focus represents a value that outstanding organizations and teams hold most dear.

It is hard to see a value. One’s values can be inferred by the behaviors that are displayed as well as by what is said. Accordingly, the four areas of focus were actually inferred by behaviors that were evident in each of the teams. As noted below, for each focus, there were consistent, identifiable behaviors displayed by the team. These fifteen behaviors are what organizational leaders should both be looking for and trying to foster. It is through discussing the importance of the four foci and implementing and reinforcing these key behaviors that an organization builds and reinforces a culture of high performance.

Use these fifteen behaviors to measure how your organization is doing. Does your organization display these key behaviors associated with excellence? Are there areas missing? If all the elements are present, is there room for improvement? I believe an audit based on these fifteen behaviors will help establish the degree of excellence an organization has attained and where there is room for growth.

Fundamental Foci and Associated Behaviors
Found in High Performing Teams

Focus: Concern for Teammates

Associated Behaviors:
~ Using recruiting and hiring techniques to maintain values and culture
~ Using techniques to resolve conflicts that preserve the sense of team and personal integrity
~ Saying and doing things that show concern for fellow team members while building and supporting them
~ Having formal and informal team building activities

Focus: Concern for Customers

Associated Behaviors:
~ Actively seeking to identify customer needs
~ Concern for how customers respond to service/product
~ Ongoing processes to establish two way communication with customers

Focus: Awareness of External Constituencies

Associated Behaviors:
~ Scanning the environment for threats and opportunities
~ Seeking expert assistance to resolve problems when the skills of the team were insufficient
~ Using techniques to maintain the boundary between the team and the external environment
~ Developing synergistic relationships with other internal teams to increase value to the company and to customers

Focus: Concern for the Output of the Team

Associated Behaviors:
~ Focusing on and concern for the productivity of the team and the quality of its work
~ Engaging in ongoing development and learning (individual and team) so both depth and breadth of skills are enhanced
~ Displaying flexibility and adaptability in meeting challenges that face the team
~ Management that establishes clear roles and goals, supports the team in achieving its goals, and focuses on building the team and its members