What can an employer do to draw out team brilliance and optimise performance? Some people go the extra mile, whilst others don’t seem to feel the call to step up. Understanding what engenders peak performance provides organisations with a great competitive advantage.
You need to know the team, what matters to each individual, what makes them tick, what motivates them to invest their energy and commitment and offer that discretionary effort that makes all the difference? At 10Eighty we use Strengthscope to help individuals and managers understand their strengths and make the most of them.
Strengthscope research indicates that peak performance happens when people are able to successfully combine their unique strengths with their skills, knowledge and abilities experiencing ‘flow’, a mental state of operation in which they are fully immersed in an activity, leading to success in the process of that activity.
Peak performance
People flourish when using their strengths, and aligning employee strengths with challenging yet meaningful objectives will also optimise overall team output.
A person’s best performance comes when they are given meaningful work that leverages those personal strengths. When you understand what motivates the team you can develop strong and resilient team members who optimise their strengths and this empowers the team to cope with challenges and work in a way that enables them to be more self-managing, agile, and productive during times of stress, uncertainty and change.
When they play to their strengths, employees see where they make a difference and are, therefore, more motivated and effective. Help staff play to their strengths – if a team member is particularly talented in a specific area, ask them to identify new opportunities and give them an opportunity to use their talents.
Aim to mentor members of the team, passing on technical knowledge and sharing ideas and experience. Create a collaborative environment where employees feel comfortable to bounce ideas off each other and explore new perspectives. There are always innovative ways of doing business and it is important that new ideas are encouraged; don’t fall into the trap of assuming that good ideas only come from managers or creatives, they can come from anyone on the team. Listen to suggestions, remember that creativity sometimes means dealing with failure – after all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Optimum performance
Help team members learn from their mistakes, reframe problems and focus on future success. It is important that employees feel the organisation supports them fairly, paying attention to all team members. Nurturing the team requires attention and time spent exploring motivators and drivers for optimum performance.
In order to foster peak performance and achieve excellence you need to set the standard for what is expected by the organisation. Employees are inspired to achieve peak performance when they work in an organisation where excellence is expected; the best way to motivate high performing teams is to make that commitment to peak performance in your field or industry.
Developing, managing and retaining talent is crucial to success in a competitive marketplace because growth is dictated by the people who work for the organisation.
