Optimising Production Teams for High Performance & Consistent Delivery

Imagine this: A game studio where deadlines are met without crunch, teams collaborate seamlessly, and every sprint feels like a well-rehearsed symphony.

Now, imagine the opposite—missed milestones, burnout, constant firefighting. Sound familiar?

We’ve all been there. Some teams just seem to flow—delivering high-quality work consistently—while others struggle in chaos.

So, what’s the secret? How do we build teams that don’t just perform well once, but sustain that excellence over time?

That’s what I want to break down today. Over the years, I’ve led production teams through the highs and lows, refining processes and team dynamics to create repeatable success.

Here’s the playbook.

1. The Foundation: Psychological Safety & Trust

Before we even talk about processes, tools, or frameworks, we need to talk about people.

The single biggest predictor of a high-performing team? Trust.

When people feel psychologically safe, they take risks, speak up when something’s wrong, and collaborate effectively. Without trust, even the best process will fail.

So, how do you build that safety?

Why it matters: High-performing teams thrive on trust. When people feel safe, they take risks, ask for help, and contribute ideas. Without this, even the best process will crumble.

How to implement:

• Create a blameless post-mortem culture—failures are learning opportunities, not witch hunts. When something goes wrong, ask why, not who. Failures are learning opportunities, not reasons for punishment.

• Encourage constructive dissent. A team that can debate respectfully is a team that innovates. If no one ever disagrees in meetings, that’s a red flag.

• Lead with vulnerability—when leaders admit mistakes, it sets the tone for honesty and growth. If you, as a leader, admit mistakes and show you don’t have all the answers, your team will feel comfortable doing the same.

Example: A few years ago, one of my teams missed a major milestone. Instead of blaming individuals, we sat down together and asked: What actually caused the delay?

Turns out, it wasn’t poor performance—it was unclear backlog prioritisation. We fixed that, and suddenly, future sprints ran much smoother.

Trust enables truth. And truth enables progress.

2. Process: Build for Adaptability, Not Rigidity

Now, let’s talk about process. Here’s the thing: The best process is the one that actually works for your team.

Too many studios enforce a rigid system—whether it’s Scrum, Kanban, or SAFe—without considering why it’s in place.

Great teams optimise for flow, not bureaucracy.

Why it matters: The best processes evolve with your team. A rigid system will break the moment reality doesn’t fit the plan.

How to implement:

• Roadmaps are vision, not scripture. Set clear goals, but allow iteration based on learning. Allow for flexibility.

• Kill the “one-size-fits-all” approach. Some teams thrive on Scrum, others on Kanban—let them choose. Let teams work in the way that suits them. 

• Optimise for flow, not utilisation. If everyone is 100% busy, your team is actually inefficient. Buffer time prevents bottlenecks.

Example: At one studio, we realised that enforcing the same sprint length across all teams led to misalignment. Instead, we shifted to a flexible cadence, allowing teams to deliver when they were truly ready. The result? Fewer blockers and smoother releases.

3. People: Align Talent with Purpose

Even the best process won’t fix a team that’s misaligned or disengaged.

A high-performance team isn’t just about skills—it’s about matching the right people to the right work.

Why it matters: Even the best process won’t save a team where people are misaligned or disengaged.

How to implement:

• Match strengths to roles. Not everyone is a generalist, or even should be —lean into specialisations where it makes sense. Let people lean into their expertise.

• Clear ownership, fewer bottlenecks. Ensure every project has a directly responsible individual (DRI).

• Keep your team challenged but not overwhelmed. Stagnation kills engagement as much as burnout.Too easy? People get bored. Too hard? They burn out. Keep people in the “growth zone.”

Example: I once had an engineer on my team who was frustrated. He was constantly fixing live issues instead of working on new features—something he loved doing.

The solution? We restructured the team to have a dedicated strike force for live issues, freeing him up for feature development.

The result? Higher engagement, more efficiency, and a happier team.

Alignment isn’t just about roles—it’s about motivation.

4. Culture: Set the Cadence for Excellence

Culture isn’t what you say—it’s how your team operates when no one is looking.

A high-performance culture isn’t about working harder; it’s about creating an environment where great work happens naturally.

Why it matters: Culture isn’t ping-pong tables or free snacks—it’s how people behave when no one is watching.

How to implement:

• Regular retrospectives with action, not just talk. If a pain point keeps coming up, address it. & If the same issue comes up every week and nothing changes, your team stops believing in the process.

• Celebrate wins (big and small). Momentum builds when people feel progress.

• Model the behaviour you want to see. If leadership is calm under pressure, the team will be too.

Example: One studio I worked with had a culture of last-minute crunch. Deadlines were always met through heroics, not efficiency.

We flipped the narrative: Instead of rewarding the “hero” who pulled an all-nighter, we celebrated the teams who delivered on time without needing crunch.

Over time, the need for heroics disappeared.

High performance isn’t about pushing harder—it’s about designing a system where great work flows effortlessly.

The High-Performance Flywheel

So, how do you consistently deliver great results? It all comes down to four key principles:

1️⃣ Build trust first. Without psychological safety, everything else falls apart.

2️⃣ Adapt your processes to reality. The best process is the one that fits your team.

3️⃣ Align people with meaningful work. When people love what they do, they perform at their best.

4️⃣ Reinforce a culture of excellence. Excellence isn’t an accident—it’s a habit.

When you get these right, you don’t just build a team that performs well once—you create a team that delivers consistently.

So, here’s my challenge to you:

🚀 What’s one small change you can make today to move your team toward this future?

Because optimising production isn’t about doing more.

It’s about creating an environment where great work happens naturally.💡

What’s your experience with high-performing teams? Let’s discuss in the comments.