5 Tips to Build a High-Performing Team
Over the past two decades, I’ve had the opportunity to create and reorganize communications teams for global brands. Again and again, the biggest challenge wasn’t budget or talent, it was integration: aligning the team’s work with the organization’s strategy, goals, and evolving market position.
Today, that challenge is even more pronounced. CEOs are navigating volatile industries, rethinking market positioning, and redefining organizational identity. At the same time, communications has been transformed by AI, automation, and the global shift to hybrid work while the power over a brand’s image continues to shift toward consumers and stakeholders via social media.
In this environment, a high-performing communications team must be synchronized, adaptable, and deeply connected to the organization’s strategic goals. Here are five tips to make that happen:
Assess Your Current Team. Begin with a clear-eyed audit. Meet with each team member individually to learn their background, skills, and career goals. Evaluate whether their current role makes full use of their abilities or whether a shift in responsibilities could unlock better performance. Include hybrid and remote work considerations: Is everyone equipped and empowered to work effectively from anywhere?
Look Under the Strategic Hood. Find your organization’s current business strategy and review it in detail. Is it current? Does everyone on your leadership team interpret it the same way? Look at past strategies to spot trends in priorities and direction. The clearer you are about where your organization is heading, the better you can align your communications function to support it.
Evaluate Your Communications Strategy. Compare your communications strategy directly with the business strategy. Are they fully aligned? Does your content, messaging, and outreach directly support the organization’s long-term goals? This also means assessing whether you’re integrating AI tools, analytics, and audience insights to target the right messages in the right channels.
Determine Fit and Structure. Step back and assess the team as a whole: Do job functions, reporting lines, and locations support organizational goals? Can your team pivot quickly in response to market or reputational shifts? High-performing teams have both role clarity and enough flexibility to adapt when conditions change.
Hire for Collaboration. Communications is a service to the organization, not a personal platform. The most successful teams integrate seamlessly with other departments and focus on shared wins. In hiring and promotion, prioritize emotional intelligence, confidence without arrogance, and a willingness to collaborate across functions and geographies.
High-performing teams are intentionally designed, not left to chance. As a communications leader, take an active role in mapping the skills needed to achieve organizational goals, creating clear, outcome-focused role descriptions, and participating in recruitment to ensure each hire brings both the expertise and the collaborative mindset to succeed. Ensure at the negotiation stage for a new role, that this is outlined within a clause in your agreement/contract.
This deliberate approach will enable you to build a team whose strengths complement one another and consistently delivers at a high level.