Watch a sailboat going 50-60mph and all you can say is “WOW, that is fast, really fast.” SailGP brought six boats to San Francisco Bay for a thrilling set of races on May 4-5 2019. These high tech, hydrofoil boats literally fly over the water. Five people crew an F50 boat. They are a lesson in high performance teams on the edge. They sail to win and they sail in extremely dangerous conditions. Helmets are required gear and a chase boat with a diver in case of a disaster follows every boat. One wrong move and it’s a disaster for the boat and crew. They need to be in synchrony every second.
What does a high performing team in synchrony on the water look like? Watch this video.
Do you have a visual for your team in synchrony?
There is much written about building High Performing Teams. Ken Blanchard’s One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams is a classic on team development. You often notice these traits in high performing teams:
- Deep trust in each other.
- Ability to communicate freely.
- Everyone working towards the same goals.
- Team members diffuse differences and tension in a relaxed manner.
- Each team member carries his/her own weight and respects the team process.
- The manager is supportive, involved and engaged with all team members.
Trust and communication are foundational. Can you imagine being on a boat flying at 50mph and not having complete trust, clarity of goals, and clear communication? You’d crash and flip over in a second.
Fortunately, teams in workplaces don’t often have such high stakes as ending up in freezing cold water with a massive boat charging through the water at each of you. Yet, when was the last time you and your team worked through the question…”What does a high performance team look like for this project?” or “What is the greatest barrier to us being a high performing team?”
Schedule time to imagine and discuss your high performing team goals. What will it take for you team to be in synchrony every second, hour or day.
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