How To Build A 'High Performing' Team Aligned To Well-Being

When creating a high performing team, the second most important issue to clarity is team well-being. This has been heightened since the start of COVID. It has affected us all. If it is affecting you as the leader (which it will) you have to remind yourself of the service to others in support of their well-being, first and foremost.

Well-being means different things to different people, but for me it’s about focusing on what people do over the hours they put in. Output over input. Being confident, relish being at work because there is a feeling of purpose. Notice I don’t say have fun or enjoyment: let’s face it the job is not always fun or enjoyable. People are too obsessed with that narrative.

High performing teams will often have a good work-life balance and high wellbeing scores. Low performing teams might be unproductive because they are overwhelmed.

Your role as a leader is to protect the group from overwhelm.

Let’s ditch the ‘hustle’ mentality. It’s dated, and it doesn’t work.

For your team, set yourself the following goals:

• Avoid digital interaction overload
• Foster digital minimalism
• Prioritise every team member’s work-life balance
• Encourage learning
• Embed self-reflection techniques

Don’t expect your team to be online 24/7. Instead, have a more realistic approach. Encourage focus not productivity, but also ensure that your team gets plenty of downtime.

Build a team where well-being is talked about. Care about how your team works, as well as what they deliver. Treat mental health seriously, approaching it with the same tact as you would any other well-being issues. If you pressure and push your team to overload, expect to see increasing mental health problems and falling productivity.

Understandably, CMOs and CEOs focus on productivity. Always making a presumption of poor productivity because nothing is ever fast enough. Well-being seems secondary. Luckily, we’re learning that well-being is in fact central to focus.

Solve well-being issues by being clear about output as well as being supportive towards colleagues lives. Build in a regular cadence of communication with your team around well-being, and it won’t be an issue.

The workplace has evolved beyond 9-5, and so must you. Today, we work smarter and focus on output over input.