What makes an individual to perform exceedingly well? What does it take to build a high performing team? What is the basis of great performance?

I deeply think about this and this is one of the areas that truly excites me in the field of management.

As with any behaviour there is an aspect of nature (the skill of the individual) and nurture (the environment in which design happens). I will talk about the individual traits one needs to assess, especially from the lens of a manager.

I look at three core ingredients to performance. This is based on my observations and your mileage may vary.

1. Motivation

Motivation is the engine that powers great work. It comes in two forms: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic Motivation

This is the gold standard of motivation. It's what makes people love their job and want to excel even when no one's watching. To gauge intrinsic motivation, I look at the following signals (based on the self-determination theory of motivation)

• Autonomy: Does the team member demonstrate ownership and initiative?

• Mastery: Are they consistently pushing themselves to create higher value?

• Purpose: Do they find genuine meaning in their work?

These indicators are crucial because they reveal whether a person is truly engaged with their role beyond just collecting a paycheck.

Extrinsic Motivation

While not as powerful as intrinsic motivation, external rewards still play a vital role:

• Competitive compensation

• Recognition and praise

• Benefits and perks

Ensuring these external factors are in place helps remove potential dissatisfaction and allows intrinsic motivation to flourish.

2. Skill

Skill encompasses three main areas:

Craft

In my field (design), I place a high value on practical skills. Just as a sculptor must master working with clay, designers must be proficient in their tools and techniques. It's not enough to understand design thinking in theory; the ability to execute is paramount.

Knowledge

Domain expertise is crucial. The best team members not only excel in their craft but also:

• Quickly acquire and internalize knowledge about the problem domain

• Apply their skills contextually to solve domain-specific challenges

Soft skills

These are the skills that amplify individual talent and make teamwork possible:

• Communication: Clearly expressing ideas and actively listening

• Collaboration: Working effectively with others, both within and outside the team

• Influence: The ability to negotiate and persuade others to build the best possible solutions

3. Process

While skilled and motivated individuals can produce great work independently, processes help ensure consistent quality and provide structure, especially for less experienced team members.

• For junior team members, a solid process acts as training wheels, guiding them towards best practices.

• As individuals grow more senior, they often develop their own refined processes, making formal procedures less critical.

• In high-performing teams with great people, rigid processes can sometimes be relaxed, as these individuals have internalized what it takes to produce excellent results.

Remember: Process is a means to an end, not the end itself. It's a proxy for producing quality results consistently, but it should never stifle creativity or autonomy. I don’t make process prescriptive while I do have it as a strong guideline. See here to take a look at my process which is presented as a set of questions that help a person to not only dig deep at the problem-space but create rigour in their solution.

4. Self-awareness

Is the person aware of their strengths and short-comings. Are they able to rectify with feedback?

Putting it all together

To build and maintain a high-performance team, I constantly evaluate these three components:

1. Motivation: Are team members intrinsically driven? Are extrinsic factors satisfactory?

2. Skill: Where are the gaps in craft, knowledge, or soft skills? Where are individuals excelling?

3. Process: Is our current process enabling or hindering performance? Does it need to be adjusted based on the team's skill level and motivation?

By regularly assessing these areas, I identify opportunities for improvement, provide targeted support, and optimize the team's overall performance.

This has been a practical tool I use daily to nurture talent, address challenges, and drive results. By focusing on these three key ingredients, you too can cultivate a team that doesn't just meet expectations but consistently exceeds them.

How do you assess performance and how do you create a high-performing team? I'm curious to know.