Management&Business: How do I build a high-performance team for new projects?

Having a good understanding of what team dynamics are is a good starting point.

What to consider when building a high-performance team

Size – A classic mistake in team formation is to include too many members. Teams with more than eight people often suffer from challenges in coordination, increased tension, and reduced productivity.

Invisible Diversity – Most corporations in recent years have begun paying increasing attention to diversity and inclusion. While visible diversity is key (gender, age, ethnic background, etc.), we risk overlooking the importance of invisible diversity in teams. As team leaders forming a team, do you take into account the members’ life stories and personality differences? They are an intrinsic part of employees’ identity and the most innovative ideas will usually get proposed in teams characterized by “diversity of thought”.

Complementarity – While a candidate’s expertise for a job is highly important, many line managers underestimate the importance of this person’s complementarity with the team of peers. What is their personality? How self-aware are they? How good are they at verbalizing and resolving conflict with others?

Peer recruitment – A key ingredient to forming successful and complementary teams is to involve the candidates’ potential peers at the recruitment stage. First, you are giving your team an opportunity to voice or withdraw support from a candidate, and are increasing the likelihood that they help this person succeed afterward.