The Nine Components of a High-Performance Finance Team

High-performance finance teams consistently deliver their goals and meet the demands of the business. They are constantly looking for ways to exceed expectations and add value to the end user, such as their internal and external stakeholders.

Such teams benefit from effective work cultures, high quality staff and well-motivated employees. Everyone proactively supports the wider team to help fulfil their responsibilities, share knowledge, and communicate progress. Each team member is aligned to the strategy and understands how their role helps to deliver the business plan.

Here are the nine components of a high-performance team:

1. Purpose and Vision: High-performance teams require a clear purpose and vision that is properly communicated to all team members and regularly referred to within the group. This should include the mission statement, desired reputation, goals, and objectives. There needs to be shared values amongst all team members, such as integrity, accountability and mutual respect.
2. Alignment: The finance team must be aligned with the company’s strategy to properly support it. They should also serve the business by providing accurate information and adding value to stakeholders. In addition, they must be able to bridge departments within the company and have firm-wide visibility.
3. Effective Leadership: For a team to be high performing, it is essential to have effective leadership. This includes having accepted leadership, setting the pace, and communicating progress. The reporting structure should be such that it enables people to do their jobs and meet deadlines.
4. Thriving Culture: A thriving culture is one where team members are unified in their commitment to the company and its goals. They participate actively, have a sense of belonging, and feel included. Flexible working patterns are encouraged, and success is celebrated. There is a focus on continuous learning, and people are given opportunities to grow and develop.
5. Defined Roles: It is important to have defined roles within the finance team, with each team member having a specific job description. There should be team buy-in, and everyone should know their responsibilities. SMART objectives should be set, and expectations should be clear.
6. Teamwork: Strong teamwork is essential for a high-performing finance team. This includes having open communication, trusted relationships, team cohesion, conflict resolution, and effective delegation. It is also important to have regular team-building activities and for teammates to constantly support one another.
7. Quality Output: High quality output is achieved by having effective processes in place, adequate resources, and the right skills. There should be minimal interference, and team members should be able to focus on their work. In addition, team members must be properly managed and team performance should be monitored and regularly reported.
8. Flexibility and Adaptability: To be a high-performing finance team, it is important to be flexible and adaptable. This includes being able to rotate jobs, plan for successors, have shared skills, make agile decisions, and for all team members to embrace change.
9. Continuous Learning: High performing teams are constantly learning and growing. This requires everybody to have personal growth plans, effective appraisal evaluations, development programmes, new opportunities, and knowledge sharing. In addition, it is important to have a culture of lifelong learning, where people are encouraged to learn new things and develop their skills.

The above are the main components of a high-performing finance team. Each team member plays a key role in contributing to the team’s success. By working together and continuously learning, the finance team can achieve its goals and be a valuable asset to the company.

It takes time to develop a high-performance team and this is impossible to achieve without everybody’s buy-in. A high-performance team culture offers a fantastic experience for team members, however any negative behaviours can quickly threaten progress.

GrowCFO has written an online course called High-Performance Finance Teams, which should be completed by all finance team members.