Most leaders I work with can tell me whether their team is busy. Far fewer can tell me whether it's high-performing, and those two things aren't the same at all. So if you're wondering how to build a high-performing team, or how to tell whether you've already got one, these three questions are a good place to start.

What makes a high-performing team?

High-performing teams are the backbone of successful organisations. But they don't just happen by chance. They're built on clear focus, effective time management, and continuous information flow. As a certified Systemic Team Coach, I have learned that these teams also understand how they fit into the wider business. This holistic view, advocated by Professor Peter Hawkins, helps successful teams to thrive with the complexities of modern organisations.

Through this systemic lens, I’d like to share three critical questions that every high-performing team must continually address to maintain their edge:

1. Are we working on the right things?

This question goes to the heart of team effectiveness. Teams are busy, and demands can be high. It’s easy to get caught up in a flurry of activity without considering whether we are making real progress on what truly matters. The Atlassian State of Teams 2024 report reveals that teams that prioritise high-impact work over short-term performative goals are 4.6 times more effective, productive, and adaptable. 4.6 times more effective and productive!!!! Not just a smidge, but almost 5 times better 🤯

But what does "working on the right things" look like in practice? It means regularly assessing whether your work aligns with mission-critical goals. It involves the courage to say "no" to tasks that don't contribute significantly to your core objectives. High-performing teams don't just work hard; they work smart, focusing their energy on initiatives that move the needle. Of course, to be able to say “no”, you do have to know your core objectives and, in my experience from the national Help To Grow: Management programme, that’s not always the case with fast growing, super busy businesses.

For example, a mission-critical task might be winning or keeping a key client, while a non-essential task could be redesigning internal documents that are rarely used.

Conduct a quick alignment check. Ask yourself, "How does this task contribute to our primary business objectives?" If you can't draw a clear line, it might not be mission-critical. At the base level, this might be asking yourself the question, “will this task help us make more money?” or a similar question that makes sense to your organisation.

This is often where a Team Diagnostic earns its keep, because it shows you where your team's time and energy are really going.

2. Do we have time to make real progress?

Time is a finite resource, and how teams manage it can make or break their performance. The same research found that teams who design their workdays around their highest-priority work are 1.6 times more likely to plan and track work consistently across teams. Less chaos, more progress.

This question challenges teams to move beyond "productivity theatre" - appearing busy without making actual progress. It prompts them to examine their time allocation critically, not just within the team, but in relation to other teams and stakeholders. Are they spending too much time in unnecessary meetings? Are they constantly interrupted by notifications, unable to focus on deep work? Are they allocating enough time to collaborate with other teams and engage with key stakeholders?

The concept of "deep work," coined by Cal Newport, is important here. It refers to the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. Teams that create space for deep work often see significant improvements in output quality and quantity.

This might involve establishing "no meeting" days for focused work, using time-blocking techniques, or implementing better communication practices across teams and departments. And of course there’s a “managing up” dimension here – not all leaders will get, or appreciate, the value and purpose in what’s trying to be implemented so that will need to be managed if teams are to be successful. And if your team is running on fumes, no amount of time-blocking will fix it. A stressed team won't be an effective one, which is why stress is part of how I look at team performance.

3. Is knowledge easy to find and understand?

Knowledge and information are everywhere but teams need to be able to quickly and easily access and understand the information that is relevant to them. In a systemic approach, this knowledge sharing extends beyond the team to the entire organisation. Teams that make information readily available are significantly more effective and productive than those that do not. When information is easy to find, teams are 4.9 times more likely to be effective, and more productive and adaptable too. There are those words again: productive and adaptable.

This question pushes teams to break down information silos and create systems for knowledge sharing not just for their team, but the entire organisation. It's not just about having information; it's about making it easily discoverable and understandable for all stakeholders. This is often referred to as "knowledge democratisation" - ensuring that valuable information isn't locked away in individuals' heads or buried in hard-to-find documents. Running counter to this is French and Raven's 'bases of power', where some people use information as a source of power. So this too will need navigating carefully as people who think they’re losing power can fight like a cornered cat!

In practice, that might mean collaborative documentation tools, clear guidelines for where information lives, or building a culture of open communication across departments.

And there’s another angle here from the systemic team coaching model and that’s team learning. As well as sharing knowledge effectively, the team need to assess and build how good they are at learning from the knowledge that’s shared. Where can they improve? Where are they strong already? What processes, systems and behaviours do they have in place to facilitate learning. Because knowledge without action is useless.

How to use these questions with your team

These three questions aren't just theory. They're practical tools that make a real difference to how your team performs. By continuously addressing these questions, teams can cut through the noise of busy work and focus on what will drive results for themselves and their stakeholders.

To help you make these questions a regular part of your team's practice, I've created a free Team Effectiveness Check-In Guide. This resource is designed to help leaders like you guide your team through these key questions, with probing sub-questions and action steps to drive meaningful change. You can download this guide for free on this page.

Use this check-in tool monthly to assess your performance in each area. Evaluate how effectively you are using your collective time and collaborating with other teams. Assess how easy it is for team members and stakeholders to find and use necessary information. Focus on iterative improvement, aiming for continuous progress that benefits the entire organisation.

High-performing teams don’t happen by accident

The best teams regularly stop and assess what they are doing and how they are doing it. They regularly stop and assess what they are doing and how they are doing it. By cutting through the noise of busy work, they can focus on what drives results for their team, their stakeholders and the entire organisation.

And don't worry if you can't quite put your finger on what's not working. If you've just got a feeling in your waters that "things could be better", that's exactly what a Team Diagnostic is for. We'll work through it together and pinpoint the one thing worth fixing first. If your team needs a reset, a Team Tune-Up gets everyone pausing, recalibrating and agreeing how they'll work together, and a Team Effectiveness Programme builds on that over time.

Start by downloading the free Team Effectiveness Check-In Guide below. And if you'd like to talk it through, drop me a message or book a free consultation.