Teams that perform at a world-class level make the difference between average and outstanding performance.Learn how to Lift your team’s performance from average to world-class.

1. World-Class
Leadership Teams

2. Why invest in
leadership teams?
In today’s changing environment organisations can no longer make do with average leadership teams.
Organisations are becoming more complex. World-class teams achieve something together
The only way to manage a matrix organisation is than cannot be achieved apart no matter how
through effective teamwork. But members must learn strong the individual members are. World-class teams
to balance the tension between managing their business show synchronicity – working together towards the
or geography and keeping the wholeness of the same goal. Some things are better achieved in a team
organisation in mind. and the output is much more than the sum of the
individual parts.
Leadership team effectiveness is not about team
building. Its about the execution of strategy and
creating a high performing organisation.
Organisations are leaner. This means that every World-class teams are more innovative and have
member already has a significant ‘day job’. Using their higher standards. They respond faster to changes
time effectively is essential to ensuring that strategic in the market place and implement change more quickly.
issues do not get drowned out by day to day pressures.
World-class teams raise the value of the business.
Decisions need to be made with imperfect Share prices, more than ever, now depend on how the
information. External pressures often force market rates the ability of the organisation’s leaders
organisations to move quickly despite the lack of to deliver their strategy. A world-class team has a
information available to them. A team can form higher perceived value to investors.
a better overall picture and arrive at better solutions.
The effect of a world-class team cascades down
the organisation. They instil confidence and a shared
vision in the organisation’s leaders, employees and
What can a world-class team other stakeholders. This is essential for retaining and
achieve? motivating talent further down the organisation.
World-class teams deliver continuous improvements Teamwork is one of the key differentiators of the
World’s Most Admired organisations.
in performance. They constantly challenge and demand
more of themselves and each other.

3. Teams that perform at a world-class level make the difference between average and outstanding performance.
Average vs world-class Hay Group’s research and experience working with some of the world’s most successful organisations has
demonstrated that, to be a world-class team, you need to do four things well.
1 3
Establish clear goals and direction Establish appropriate structures and processes
Average teams have an overarching strategy but their primary focus is on achieving goals associated Average teams have processes that determine where and when their meetings will be held and what
with their own operational areas of responsibility. their regular agenda will include – in average teams this is generally focused around individual briefings
about their own operational areas of responsibility, reinforcing their siloed approach. Deviation from
effective team behaviours, lateness to meetings, use of phones in meetings etc, is often tolerated
at the expense of team performance.
World-class teams have an overarching team strategy and as a result, they focus on what can only World-class teams recognise that processes and norms are the glue that hold a team together and are
be achieved together. They waste little time on operational issues or goals that can be undertaken by even more important amongst the strong personalities that so often make up executive teams.
someone further down the organisation.
World-class teams also have processes similar to average teams but, in addition, they establish norms
Leaders of world-class teams provide a very clear purpose for the team and with them translate this about how to deal with conflict or make decisions around particularly big goals. These norms are
into three to five ‘must win’ battles to meet the strategic agenda. supported and enforced by the team leader.
It is this clarity of purpose that really sets a world-class team apart and gives members a true sense of To a greater extent, a world-class team self regulates as each member holds the next accountable for
interdependency (what they can only do together and cannot achieve apart) and a shared vision over and adhering to the rules.
above their day job.
2 Define strategic accountabilities
In average teams the accountabilities of individuals are tied to their respective areas. They don’t have
specific accountabilities or responsibilities for achieving the overall strategy of the team. As a result their
rewards are also completely tied into delivering on their day jobs.
World-class teams go one step further. They too have individual, operational responsibilities but
4 Develop the right behaviours
In average teams it is often assumed that if a team is made up of bright, committed and driven people
who get along, that is enough for outstanding team performance.
World-class teams are made of stronger stuff than just getting along. Members of world-class teams
in addition they translate the team’s must win battles into specific accountabilities over and above are emotionally intelligent and are particularly strong in empathy and integrity. As a result members
their day job and the majority of their time is spent on achieving these. of a world-class team feel understood and heard and so accept criticism and even outright rejection
of their ideas. They always behave consistently with the values of the team and challenge one another
Members of world-class teams wear two hats – one as an individual leader and one as a member
to put the goals of the team first – even when it’s risky to do so.
of the leadership team. Their goals and accountabilities are different for each one and therefore they
behave differently in each role – whether in or out of team meetings. In recent Hay Group research it was discovered that 44% of individual members of outstanding teams
were prepared to challenge a team member in order to live up to the team’s values compared to 3%
These strategic team accountabilities vs individual operational accountabilities are what really set
of average team members.
world-class teams apart.

4. Why Hay Group?
Over 60 years, Hay Group has undertaken more research Hay Group has helped some of the world’s largest and
than any other organisation on how and why teams impact most complex organisations achieve superior performance
on performance. We have the largest database of its kind through teams including many of the world’s Most
that details exactly what it is that the best teams do. Admired Companies.
Hay Group has worked with the leading researchers and Hay Group’s expertise is not just confined to teams and
practitioners in this field including Richard Hackman from leadership. We have the breadth and depth in Reward and
Harvard University and Dr Ruth Wageman from Dartmouth Organisational Effectiveness to enable us to take a truly
College. holistic approach to developing high performing teams.
Hay Group's years of experience and empirical research into
how teams drive performance has helped many leaders lift
their team’s performance from average to world-class.
Hay Group designs bespoke solutions. We recognise that Hay Group deals with the underlying cause of team
in some cases development is driven by urgent performance underperformance not the symptom. Most team
objectives and in others by continuous improvement - development starts with behaviours. But Hay Group has
our solutions have the flexibility to accommodate both. proprietary diagnostic tools that can identify exactly where
the strengths and weakness of the team lie and where and
how the biggest impact to performance can be made.

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