Leading Indicators That Your IT Team Is Running At Peak Performance

In business leadership and human resources circles, there’s a lot of talk about addressing underperforming teams. Considering the old saw – “If it ain’t, broke don’t fix it” – this focus on fixing problems is understandable.

However, leaders need to remember that it’s also important to focus on the positive. If you’re always looking for problems, you’re likely to focus too much minor issues or develop solutions in search of a problem.

Therefore, let’s change the conversation up a bit and discuss a few leading indicators that your IT team is doing a good job.

High Productivity and Quality

It is always important to consider results versus established objectives. In addition to objectives being met or surpassed, consistently positive customer feedback is another indicator of success.

High productivity should also be at the individual level. Each team member should be holding themselves accountable for their own contribution to overall success of the team.

High productivity and quality are the most obvious sign of strong performance, but they shouldn’t be the only ones.

High Morale

Strong morale can get a company through difficult times, minimizing anxiety and disharmony along the way. High morale also breaks down silos between employees and leadership, ensuring that work is and inspiring and enjoyable undertaking.

Shared Clarity of Expectations, Purpose and Vision

Teams do their very best when there are clearly defined roles, and each individual is able to focus on tasks they are best at doing. Ideally, roles only have to be defined once, but this is an unrealistic expectation. Tasks often must be redistributed as conditions change, such as an employee taking sick leave or going on vacation. When employees have a strong understanding of both their role and the roles of others, it helps with the occasional reallocation of responsibilities. It also helps establish project teams and bring together the right people for collaborative tasks.

Teams with a shared sense of purpose are well-positioned to exceed what is expected of them. When each team member understands their contribution to big picture goals, it helps them pull together to help their coworkers in other parts of the company. Achieving this level of awareness usually requires a balance between time spent planning and actually doing the work.

A Sense of Trust

Every person in a high-performing team should feel comfortable talking about challenges and difficult situations. This helps people pulls together to address challenges when they inevitably arise. This requires high levels of trust and communication among team members. If there is a lack of trust within the team, issues will go unaddressed or even be covered up in order to avoid conflict.

Feelings of Empowerment

Strong IT teams have the tools and resources needed to thrive in their respective roles. Empowered team members also have license to make decisions within the remit and contribute to team decision making. This environment requires having the right balance of oversight and autonomy.

We Can Staff Your IT Team With High Performers

At SMCI, we take pride in connecting our clients to best-fit candidates for their open IT positions. Please reach out to us today to learn more about our talent acquisition capabilities.