Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams 2

Table of Contents

Introduction...........................................................................................................3

The Main Traits of High-Performing Teams......................................................4

The 9 traits your team needs..........................................................................................................................5
High performers are Superheroes................................................................................................................7

Superheroes at Work...........................................................................................8
Make the best use of your employees.........................................................................................................8
Handling superheroes.....................................................................................................................................8
A team effort......................................................................................................................................................9
Leader’s guide for motivating people..........................................................................................................9
Delivering results: 7 steps..............................................................................................................................11
Sharing goals builds connections................................................................................................................13

Staying Engaged..................................................................................................14
Employee engagement on all levels............................................................................................................14
What to do?......................................................................................................................................................15
Collaboration makes a great leader............................................................................................................15
Advantages of collaboration.........................................................................................................................15
Leader’s responsibility...................................................................................................................................16
The best are online.........................................................................................................................................16
Habit of reporting...........................................................................................................................................16
How to get employees to buy-in?................................................................................................................17
The main reasons for reporting...................................................................................................................17

Final words of wisdom.......................................................................................18

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Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams 3

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument,
debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.”
– Colin Powell

Introduction
Everybody loves magicians. At first glance leadership seems like magic as well. There seem
to be so many unknowns. Some say it's more like art than science. That’s not true.

When I started my first company 22 years ago, I was not an ideal leader. Like many, I felt
there were no rules on how to act. Learning only from your own mistakes is how many
first-time managers get started. You're thrown into deep water and you either drown or
swim to shore.

What many people don't know is that a lot of magic is based on rules. There are best prac-
tices, common procedures to follow, acts that everyone replicates, and processes every
magician knows.

It's the same with great leadership. 80% of it is following common methodology that have
been proven to work. No need to reinvent the wheel. Why not learn from things that are
guaranteed to work? Why not act like other great leaders do?

Now decades later, as a serial entrepreneur and a leader of teams both small and large I
know it is possible to become a good leader quickly. Just do things that are proven to give
results.

In this book we share lessons learned from working with thousands of companies on all
continents. The leadership lessons here first describe what makes a great team. We then
follow on with building a true team of superheroes. There are also very practical guide-
lines you can implement as tools in your company today.

Do that and you'll succeed. Good luck!

by Jüri Kaljundi,
CEO and Co-Founder of Weekdone

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Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams 4

”All of our employees are eager to use tools that enable accomplishing goals and
push the company into even greater heights,”
Henry Mason, TrendWatching

The Main Traits of High-Performing Teams

As a manager, team leader, or a CEO you
know that one of the underlying success
factors is having a High-Performing Team.
Even when pitching your startup, the num-
ber one attribute investors are looking for
is an All-star team.
HPTs – High-Performance Teams, by defini-
tion, are groups or organizations that are
highly focused on their goals and achieve
superior business results. Not knowing
what makes a High-Performance Team can
ruin your business and even cost your job,
because in the end of the day results are
all that matter.
This book helps make sure you’re running
the best team possible and that there are
no low performers working for you.
The most destabilizing side-effect of hav-
ing a low performer on your team is that it
can drag down the high-performers. When
they have to carrying the low-performers
on their backs or try to improve them,
they are not focusing their efforts on self-
improvement.
Fortunately, there is a lot a leader or a
manager can do to select the right peo-
ple and create the right environment for
growth. The secret here is knowing the
unique traits of a high-performance team
and using that knowledge to your advan-
tage when building a successful team.
After going through all the case studies
and research articles we ended up with 9
traits that separate the high-performers
from low-performers. By learning what
they are you can implement this knowl-
edge and put together a High-Perfor-
mance Team.

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Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
The 9 traits your team
needs.
1. Talent Magnetism
To spot a strong team you simply have to
look for the team everybody wants to be
on. For example, Google recruits on the
basis of having passion, intelligence and
a ”learning animal mindset”. The insight
here is to look for potential stars who
are looking for challenges and a place
where they can demonstrate their skills.
EXAMPLE: Google recruits people who have
passion, intelligence and a ”learning animal”
mindset.
TIP: Look for potential stars who want to be
on teams with high standards where they
can demonstrate their skills and have a real
impact.
2. Healthy Heated Debates
The difference between HPT and LPT
(Low-Performing Team) is that a heated
debate doesn’t cause HPTs to fragment.
Instead of becoming more isolated dur-
ing tough times, these teams actually
gain strength and develop cohesion.
According to Gallup, HPTs contributed
more equally to team’s discussions,
rather than letting 1 or 2 people domi-
nate the group. As a team leader you
should make sure that everybody talks
in equal measure and keeps their contri-
butions concise. Team members should
face one another, keeping conversations
and gestures energetic.
EXAMPLE: Opsware founder Ben Horowitz
believes great team managers spend 90% of
the meeting listening and 10% talking.
TIP: Talk and listen in roughly equal measure,
keep contributions concise. Have members
face one another, keep conversations and
gestures energetic.
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3. Diversity
Diversity unlocks innovation and drives
market growth. Most engaged teams
welcome diversity of age, gender, and
race, while disengaged teams may do
the opposite. Apple has made diversity
a priority by hiring 65% more women,
50% more Black and 66% more Hispanic
employees. In the process of putting
together your team, make sure you have
people with different backgrounds, gen-
der, and strengths.
EXAMPLE: Apple has made diversity a priority
by hiring 65% more women, 50% more Black
and 66% more Hispanic employees.
TIP: Embrace diversity by putting teams
together with different backgrounds, gender,
and strengths.
4. Mind Reading
Researchers from M.I.T. found that HPT
members scored higher on a test called
Reading the Mind in the Eyes. This test
measures how well people read complex
emotional states from images of faces
with only the eyes visible.
It is also known that people with high
emotional IQ work well with others
and are effective in leading change. For
instance, Google relies more on recruits
with emotional intelligence rather than
the grades they received in school.
Therefore, find a suitable test or inter-
view format to find people with higher
emotional IQ.
EXAMPLE: Google relies more on recruits with
emotional intelligence rather than the grades
they received in school
TIP: Find a suitable test or interview format
to find people with higher emotional IQs.
Ask your coworkers or friends to recommend
people with high emotional IQs.
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
5. More Women
In this case it is not ”diversity” that mat-
ters for a team’s intelligence, but simply
having more women. Teams with more
women outperformed teams with more
men. Women, on average, are better at
”mindreading” than men which leads
to higher performing teams. In order
to have a HPT, recruit more women for
your team or company who also have
other ”high-performing” qualities.
EXAMPLE: Intel, Facebook and Google are all
committed to increasing the percentage of
female employees.
TIP: Hire and recruit more women for your
team or company who also have other ”high-
performing” qualities.
6. Laser-like Focus on Goals
HPTs are able to keep the larger goal in
view. They are consistently able to put
what’s best for the organization ahead
of their own egos. In addition, they seek
out evidence and try to remain as objec-
tive as possible. Once a decision is made,
these teams are remarkably quick to rally
around it. As a team leader, you should
establish an overall goal and make it
visible to the whole team and set key
metrics to measure the goal. The most
popular method for that is OKR - Objec-
tives and Key Results, which is used by
the likes of LinkedIn, Google and Intel.
EXAMPLE: Google uses the Objectives and
Key Results method to set and measure their
goals throughout the company.
TIP: Establish an overall goal and make it
visible for the whole team. Set key metrics to
measure it.
7. Doing Your Best Every Day
Deloitte used the Gallup 1.4 million
employee study to see what similarities
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exist between high and low perform-
ing teams. The most important shared
aspect for HPTs is the belief is the belief
that they are doing their best every day.
In order to capitalize on that knowledge,
team leaders should help team members
to define their strengths and give tasks
accordingly.
EXAMPLE: Deloitte set out a clear goal: ”We
want to spend more time helping people use
their strengths”.
TIP: Help members to define their strengths
and give tasks accordingly.
8. Work-life balance
The most successful teams have mem-
bers who are equally engaged in their
personal lives as they are with their
work. Mervyn Davies, former chairman
of Standard Chartered’s, said that he
took as much pride in the amount of
time he spent with his family as he did in
his bank’s extraordinary performance.
Therefore, you should look for people
who are equally committed to work and
their free time.
EXAMPLE: Mervyn Davies, former chairman
of Standard Chartered’s, said he took as
much pride in the amount of time he spent
with family as he did in his bank’s extraordi-
nary performance.
TIP: Bring the same level of energy and inten-
sity to your work as you would to your social
and family life.
9. Group Engagement Outside
Formal Meetings
According to the M.I.T. Human Dynam-
ics Laboratory, the best predictors of
productivity are a team’s energy and
engagement outside formal meetings.
These two factors explained ⅓ of the
variations in dollar productivity among
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
groups. The laboratory used a call center
for their study and asked the manager to
make the employees take a coffee break
at the same time. That little tweak in-
creased the overall efficiency by 8% and
20% in the worst-performing teams. As a
team leader, make sure you create com-
munication opportunities for your team
outside the formal environment.
EXAMPLE: A call center manager made the
employees have a coffee break at the same
time (8% efficiency increase overall, 20%
increase in worst-performing teams
TIP: It is important to make your employees
feel they are a part of a larger whole. Let
them believe they are changing the world,
and maybe one day they will. Don’t be too
vague in your objectives.
High performers are
Superheroes.
In a lot of industries, high performers
have become so rare, they can be con-
sidered superheroes. They are rare but
when you have them, you’re invincible.
By definition, superhero is a fictional char-
acter with superhuman powers or greatly
enhanced abilities. In a company, these are
the people who get the amazing results.
Haven’t you ever wanted to run a High-
Performing Superhero team? Like Nick
Fury or Professor X?
The truth is, if you’re a manager, you
probably already have some superhe-
roes. But your employees, your superhe-
roes, don’t know it yet.
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Build your high performers.
There are a lot of studies that have
found a positive correlation between
self-esteem and work performance. To
put it simply, employees who know that
they’re valued, work better.
Employee feedback and recognition mat-
ters and is an important part in evolving
your employees into a team of super-
heros.
We live in a fast-paced world, where
being effective and self improvement is
essential. A by-product of this particular
approach is our excessive focus on per-
sonal weaknesses.
Instead of always harping on our
shortcomings, let’s give praise to our
strengths and effort we bring daily into
the routine of the concrete jungle. In
every company and team, there are
talented and hardworking people who
don’t get the credit they deserve.
TIP: Let’s give praise to our strengths and
effort we bring daily into the routine of the
concrete jungle.
Each employee has enhanced abilities
that are more developed than others.
Some are great at math, some possess
extraordinary social skills, others have
both and that combination on its own is
a unique superpower.
In our daily office grind, they disguise
themselves as Clark Kents, Bruce
Waynes, and Tony Starks. Let’s rip off
these gray suits and for once, reveal the
real Superheroes at work.
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams 8

Weekdone is one of the maps or compasses I use to determine where I should focus
my time to help the team and company be successful.”
Lyle Stevens, Co-founder and CEO of Mavrck.

Superheroes at Work
Make the best use of your
employees.
To get the best result in your team or a
company, it’s important to make sure
each employee has a chance to use their
superpowers, at work.
The superhero known as Professor X
was really good at it. When leading the
X-Men, he made sure that these mutants
with different destructive skills managed
to get the work done. He even got Wol-
verine to cooperate, most of the time.
That required some shrewd leadership.
The principle is ”let people do, what they
do best” and don’t be too stuck in the
exact tasks the position requires.
TIP: Let people do, what they do best.
Handling superheroes.
Of course, people must do the work
they are paid to do. But at the same
time a good manager finds out what the
employees are best at and encourages
them to develop those skills. The idea
is similar to Google’s famous "20% side
project time" but it should probably not
be so extreme.
You don’t have to give employees unlim-
ited alone time and their personal devel-
opment should always be evaluated. You
don’t want to be the manager who let’s
employees create the Ultron.
Yet, making sure your employees de-
velop their superpowers and and how to

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Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
use these superpowers for your compa-
ny is something every manager should
do.
Superheroes empower the belief that we
can be more, do more and achieve more
than ordinary people usually do. The
popularity of Superheroes shows that
most people can at some level connect
with deeply flawed characters that use
each ability they have to do great things
and live full lives.
A team effort.
Although a single Superhero is cool, a
group of Superheroes is a lot cooler.
Just look at the Avengers superhero
team by Marvel.
The most interesting thing about Aveng-
ers is how extraordinary people, who
are used to doing their own thing, must
come together, communicate, and form a
team to make big things happen.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a good story
if it was easy. In Avengers it takes Phil
Coulson’s death to make idealistic Cap-
tain America and narcissistic Tony Stark
work together.
We want everyone in the office to be a
Superhero, but we also want them to
work as a team. Here are my observa-
tions on how to make it work.
Be a superhero yourself.
Anyone who runs a Superhero team
must be a Superhero themselves, but
they also must have a clear vision for
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what the team wants to achieve. The
manager must sometimes also be a little
manipulative but not so much that he al-
ienates employees. Make sure you know
what everyone’s doing, how their ac-
tions contributes to the vision, and give
feedback. This way employees will know
what's going on.
Make sure everyone knows the
overall goal.
It’s important for a leader to communi-
cate team and company goals to eve-
ryone in the team, so they know where
they must go.
Only when the goals are clear and peo-
ple want to accomplish them, can em-
ployees do great things as a team.
Leader’s guide for
motivating people.
% of workers who claim the following
factors are very effective motivators:
praise from managers 67% cash bonuses 60%
attention from leaders 63% pay raise 52%
more responsibility 62% stock options 35%
People are the greatest resource of any
team or company. It’s people who cre-
ate, innovate, and achieve business
results. It’s your job as a leader to help
these people in any way possible to
bring out their best.
Motivation leads to higher performance,
morale, and productivity. Nevertheless,
30% of executives say that motivating
their employees is their toughest job.
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
So have you ever wondered, what goes
on in your teammate’s or employee’s
heads? If you have, you are smart. As Ian
Hutchinson, author of People Glue has
said: ”Your number one customers are
your people. Look after employees first
and then customers last.”
I don’t think that customers should be
your last priority, but he does have a
point.
In the context of ”History of Capitalism”,
the idea of focusing on ”what employees
want” is a new one.
Guide, Step 1. More praise
Use Weekdone to know employee's current
status and tasks
Be specific with your feedback
Use discerning or analytical tone when giving
praise
“Your timeliness always
helps me do my job better.
Thanks.”
Step 2. More attention
Take time for 1:1 meetings
Give people purpose by explaining the bigger
picture
Use Hierarchical Objectives and Key Results to
help people understand how company goals align
with theirs
Only 40% of employees are well informed of
their company’s goals, strategy, and tactics
Step 3. More responsibility
Give more demanding tasks
Give the freedom to decide for themselves
Offer opportunities for their suggestions
Study found: The harder a project is, the
prouder we feel of it
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Step 4. Better bonuses
Make sure it stands out from regular pay
Rewarded goal has to be realistic and at the
same time challenging
Make sure the reward system is reviewed
and changed if needed
Properly structured incentive programs can increase
employee performance by as much as 44%
Step 5. Pay raise
Should be in correlation with the results and the
development of an employee
Discuss the amount and terms with the employee
before hand
Raise should be around 10% to make an impact
It might seem more logical to think
about what consumers want or what the
shareholders want. But now more than
ever, it’s the employees who decide if
your company succeeds or fails.
According to Gallup, employee engage-
ment in the US is at a low 30%.
This low engagement level is not just an
ugly number. A low level of engagement
turns into a monetary loss each year and
costs companies billions.
Low engagement makes people quit and
find new jobs, it makes them sit at their
desks and daydream, and it leaves a bad
impression on your customers and busi-
ness partners.
TIP: A low level of engagement turns into a
monetary loss each year and costs compa-
nies billions.
At the same time, engaged workers put
in more productive hours, they smile to
your clients, and they won’t quit. Which
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams 11

means you don’t have to spend a lot of texts, or infographics and choose which
money on training new talent each year. medium works best for you.

Step #1 Big picture and goals.

Delivering results: 7 steps.

As a leader or a manager, it is your job

to create an environment where people
can reach their potential. Furthermore,
it is the leader’s job to keep the team
heading in the right direction. Most
managers have their own superiors and
what matters most to them is delivering It is absolutely vital that everyone on
results and meeting goals. your team understands the big picture
and especially their role reaching the ob-
Setting goals is simply not enough to ac- jective. People with goals tend to achieve
tually reach them. So, how can a leader 10 times as much as people with no
or manager do all of these things with- goals. To do that, set a company goal and
out compromising the work environment metrics on which basis it can be meas-
within a team? ured. Secondly, find a place or a forum
to share this knowledge. Thirdly, align
You need to have a strong system in the company goal with each member of
place for everyday communication, the team. Even the act of writing down a
reporting, team-building, and manage- goal increases the odds of achieving it.
ment to make sure everything is moving
in the right direction. Step #2 Assign tasks according
to each team member’s
You can use Weekdone to do all that. strengths.
Weekdone is a weekly reporting and
quarterly goal setting tool that thou-
sands of people use to be more produc-
tive. It uses the goal-setting and report-
ing principles used in this book and fits
teams of all sizes.

On the basis of our customer case stud-

ies and different successful leadership
methodologies we here at Weekdone
have compiled these 7 steps that will
help insure the success of your team. We
have created numerous materials about
these 7 steps. Take a look at out slides,
In order for your team members to be
happy and productive it is essential to
play to their strengths. According to
the Gallup survey, employees are 61%
more engaged if their managers focus

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Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
on their strengths. In addition, people
feel good doing tasks that they are good
at and most importantly they perform
better. Make sure you know your team's
strengths and assign tasks accordingly.
Step #3 Sharing and generating
ideas.
Teams are known to achieve better chem-
istry and results if there is a place or a fo-
rum to share ideas. We at Weekdone urge
leaders to implement a suitable brain-
storming format to generate ideas within
your team. There is a variety of different
formats out there to choose from. Brain-
storming and sharing ideas generates
new ideas, solves problems, and gener-
ally makes the team better. Furthermore,
you should create an ideaa idea bank
where everyone can contribute. For ex-
ample, an idea bank can result in process,
operations, and product innovation.
Step #4 Increase engagement by
implementing methodologies.
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One of the key parts of achieving your
goals is repetition and a system that
helps to keep the work process going. In
the beginning I already emphasized the
importance of goals and the best meth-
odology for that is Objectives and Key
Results – OKRs. It is used by the likes of
Google, LinkedIn, Sears, Twitter, Zynga,
and thousands of others. Using a goal
setting and tracking method helps peo-
ple to start moving towards important
goals, rather than small unimportant
tasks. On the other hand, employees
love it for the clarity of knowing what’s
expected from them.
Secondly, I urge you to try out the Prob-
lems, Plans, and Progress – PPP methodol-
ogy. It is used by by companies like Skype
and eBay and it helps to enhance team col-
laboration and keeps everyone informed.
It also helps to clarify what needs to be
done in order to achieve certain goals.
Step #5 Constantly improve the
work process.
Using PPP methodology helps to bring
out the flaws and problems of your
team’s work process. In order to achieve
the results as efficiently as possible, it is
critical to make improvements in your
workflow. As a leader, it is good to check
in regularly to see how everybody is do-
ing and if they need a push to get them
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
over the hump. This can be done in a
online status update format or by talking
to your team members individually.
Step #6 Encourage and
motivate.
All of the methodologies and goal set-
ting techniques are tools to help teams
achieve better results, but we have to
remember that we are dealing with hu-
mans. People are emotional beings and
by setting goals and giving tasks accord-
ing to their strengths the odds of success
are increased. It is important to motivate
your team as well. The best times to
encourage and motivate your team is in
the beginning and the final parts of the
process. People tend to get stuck and in
order for them to finish their task, it is im-
portant to reinforce the knowledge that
they are moving in the right direction and
that they are a vital part of the outcome.
Step #7 Give feedback and
recognition.
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On the previous step we briefly touched
on the emotional side of a delivering
results and there is one last thing lead-
ers should not forget: giving your team
members feedback and recognition.
These two elements are known to moti-
vate people more than money. In addi-
tion, regular feedback makes your peo-
ple twice as happy and makes sure they
are engaged.
Sharing goals builds
connections.
To conclude, setting, and sharing regular
goals with your team is a good start-
ing point towards delivering the results
needed. Make sure you have implement-
ed a suitable work process for your team
and urge everybody to make improve-
ments. As a leader, you can provide the
necessary tools, but in the end it is the
team that delivers the results. So, make
sure you motivate them by giving feed-
back and encourage them if needed.
Following these 7 steps should guaran-
tee successful results. Be the best leader
you can be and share this knowledge
with your team.
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams 14

”Weekdone reminds you to report every end of the week, which creates a good
rhythm and eventually it becomes a habit.”
-Toby Young, CTO of Ebury

Staying Engaged
Employee engagement on
all levels.
Everyone knows by now that having an
engaged workforce has many benefits.
However, Gallup.com shows that the rate
of employee engagement in US has pla-
teaued at around 30%. This means that
about 70% of companies are not enjoy-
ing the fruits of engagement and that
needs to change.
A study, carried out in 106 countries
shows that today, employee engagement
and corporate-culture are the most criti-
cal challenges for a company. About 50%
of the participants said that these issues
are very important, doubling the num-
ber from the previous year. It’s a good
sign to see, as this means that more
leaders around the globe are acknowl-
edging engagement as an issue.
Engagement is more than job satisfac-
tion or happiness at work. An engaged
worker has an attachment to his job
and that lets him do it a lot better. If
we speak about the tough competition
in the global market, then this job at-
tachment is what’s giving those 30% of
companies a strong edge.
There are 3 key factors that drive en-
gagement:
• Relationship with direct manager
• Belief in senior leadership
• Pride in working for the company
We can see that engagement is some-
thing that only leaders can bring to their
company. It’s the job of management
to make sure everyone working under
them feels engaged. For that a manager
needs good communication skills and
must be engaged in his work.

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Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
Managers in general are no more en-
gaged than their team members. 35%
of managers feel engaged in their work
and this is probably the main reason
engagement remains an issue. Although
managers are often required to do a lot
of individual work and their superiors
trust them, they still need attention from
senior leadership. Engagement must be
tackled on all levels of a company. If the
leadership engages managers working
under them, there is a better chance that
managers can do their jobs better.
What to do?
The first thing to do is to get an overview
of what’s going on. Talk to everyone
directly working for you, find out what
they think and want. What troubles
them? If you know their problems, you
can help them. Make sure you have
extra time every week for talking and
listening.
Of course, it’s not possible to have
water-cooler chats with everyone if you
have a bigger team. In here you need
some technological solution to keep
track of everyone. Technology enable
us to receive information faster and in
greater quantities. We can completely
ignore geographical barriers thanks to
weekly video conferences or private
company networks. The data we share
with each other and our teams is also
not limited by medium: instead of a writ-
ten report we can use pictures or videos
that can be played on mobiles or tablets.
Yes, a picture of a cat, sent to your team,
is a form of engagement. It creates a
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shared environment which increases the
feeling of togetherness with everyone.
Collaboration makes a
great leader.
As John Ritchie said in Business Matters:
”Effective internal communication helps
ensure that all members of the organiza-
tion are working collaboratively towards
a common goal.” The key word is ”col-
laboration.” While a lot of team members
may know what their job description is,
they must also understand why it mat-
ters to the company. That is the reason
why they must share their work and
ideas with co-workers and managers.
Advantages of
collaboration.
Collaboration has many advantages over
the ”doing it yourself” style of manage-
ment:
• You can share your ideas for feed-
back. Everybody knows that ”two
heads are better than one”. Sharing
your ideas with your team gives you
feedback and new ideas. As there
are always more than one way to
do things, you’ll discover that your
coworkers and employees can some-
times save you from a dead end.
• You are forced to stop and think
about what you’re doing. As you
have to explain your ideas to others,
you must give those ideas a voice.
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
Something that sounds good in our
minds, might have flaws you won’t
see before speaking them aloud.
• You won’t hit the a wall so easily.
Especially when doing creative work,
it’s easy to get stuck. Collaborating
and brainstorming with others helps
you.
Helen Keller has so elegantly said: ”Alone
we can do so little; together we can do
so much.”
Leader’s responsibility.
As Harvard Business Review has found
out: ”Collaboration doesn’t just occur
by getting people together. You need to
trigger it.”
A lot of people don’t like to be reviewed.
To some articipating in internal com-
munications may feel like being judged.
Leader’s job is to create a culture where
constant review is not something to
be afraid of but a normal routine that
doesn’t affect everyday mood or task
completion.
The easiest way to do that is talking to
people.
In a perfect world, a leader can com-
municate with everyone in his team,
let them know, how their work affects
others and what they can do better. In
reality, doing this takes far too much
time. In Weekdone we have developed
a tool which let’s us file a weekly report
without taking more than 5 minutes
from an employees week. In addition to
weekdone.com
16
providing their manager with an over-
view, all employees can see what others
have done, and how their work furthers
the company’s long-term goals.
The best are online.
Today the best tools for collaboration
are online. The internet offers fast and
easy solutions and lets us do our work
on the go. We can participate in col-
laboration activities from our iPhones or
tablets. Using these modern tools makes
all internal communication tasks (includ-
ing review process) more acceptable for
younger generations who are used to
spending most of the time online.
Online collaboration tools help to change
internal communication from an ”an-
noying review system” into a fun game
running in the background. There are
many perks you can implement here, like
achievements, leaderboards, and point
systems.
Habit of reporting.
Creating a habit of reporting in your
team or company usually doesn’t come
naturally. Like with any habit, you as a
leader have to make it a recurring activ-
ity. Secondly, reporting should be auto-
matic and as easy as possible. Finally,
your team members have to be moti-
vated to do it.
So, how do you accomplish that?
The easiest way to create a habit of
reporting is to use a weekly reporting
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams
software like Weekdone. It makes sure
team members fill in their reports and
that reporting becomes a weekly habit.
How to get employees to
buy-in?
An issue that often arises is that employ-
ees don’t understand how filing a sta-
tus report helps them personally. For a
leader it’s fairly obvious:
• You quickly know what’s going on
and get invaluable insights from your
team
• You can make fact-based decisions
and proactively apply corrective
measures
• You can guide your people by giving
insightful feedback
The main reasons for
reporting.
You are more efficient and
better at your job.
At Weekdone we have a rule not to list
more than 5-7 plans per week. That's
also the PPP best practice. This approach
helps you prioritize and focus on the
tasks that matters the most. Secondly,
since the reports are transparent they
hold you accountable and make sure you
are focusing on progress.
You save time.
Having the reports in front of your
weekdone.com
17
manager and other team members
eliminates all the pointless status update
emails and meetings. You will save time
from by not having to explain what you
are doing and can concentrate on the
important part of your work.
It will help your superiors to
appreciate your work.
Status reports help you to communicate
with your busy boss. In addition, you
can suggest improvements and get help
when you have a problem. What's more,
you can get that valuable feedback and
praise.
It is easy.
The most effective and simple method
for reporting is PPP – Progress, Plans,
Problems. This methodology is used by
the likes of Skype, Ebay and Facebook. It
is as easy as ABC.
• Progress: list your accomplishments,
finished items, and closed tasks for
the reporting period.
• Plans: weekly key tasks and short-
term objectives for the next report-
ing period. These should become
Progress next week.
• Problems: share what challenges you
encountered during the reporting
period. Here you will include items
that you are stuck on and can't be fin-
ished. Problems often need help from
someone else, not just you.
To conclude, if you want to create a habit
of reporting in your team, we urge you to
test out Weekdone. It makes the whole
reporting process easy and automatic.
Leader’s Guide: Building High-Performing Teams 18

”Without Weekdone, it would be very hard for us to manage our objectives, so I con-
sider it to be highly valuable for us.”
- Toby Young, CTO of Zlien

Final words of wisdom

There is nothing difficult about running a high-performing superhero team. All you have to
do is learn from the examples of other great leaders, both real and fictional, and you can
be sure to achieve success.

We hope you found this book helpful and you are ready to go out and make a difference.

To make sure your team has clear goals and a strong synergy, try out Weekdone.

Weekdone is a progress reporting and a team management software based on popular

management methodologies like PPP and OKR.

Implementing Weekdone is instant. Just sign up for our free trial at weekdone.com, invite
employees, and you’re all done. In less than a week, you will get your first structured em-
ployee progress report via e-mail from your people, one that you can quickly give feed-
back on. Go and make your people more valuable at work.

Get our app to be always up-to-date with your team status wherever you are. On iPhone,
iPad, and Android.

Learn more at weekdone.com/mobile

weekdone.com