What Makes a Good Team That Builds Success

Knowing what makes a good team can make all the difference in running a business. There are all different types of businesses, team sizes, dynamics, and personalities that play a role in team building.

In business and school settings, team leaders can help to create a team that’s driven for success. It’s important to remember that individuals on a team come from different backgrounds and can have different effects within a team setting.

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What Makes A Great Team?

Here are some surefire ways to build a team that will work together and produce results.

1. Mutual Respect

It helps to know your teammates. Mutual respect and understanding is grounded in getting to know one another. This can begin by learning about your teammate’s past accomplishments and future goals. When conflicts inevitably arise, mutual respect will play a role in collaborative problem-solving.

2. Specialization

The power of a team is the fact that individuals bring their respective skills to the collective. For example, on a marketing team, you will likely have someone who is great at writing (copywriter), another person who is good with organization (project manager), and another person who is data-driven (business analyst). The varied skills come together to make for a successful team!

3. Defining Purpose

An important step in the formula for what makes a team successful is primarily establishing an objective. When everyone is aware of the goals and processes to achieve them, everyone can put in the work to make it happen.

4. Adaptation

One of the challenges in managing a team or working with a group of individuals is when change arises. Changes and issues are bound to come up in the process of working together. The ability to be adaptable and flexible to make edits along the way is a great characteristic of what makes a good team.

5. No Scapegoats

Teams work together and teams fail together. Not one person should take all the praise nor should one person suffer all the blame. That’s why pointing fingers is ill-advised in a team setting. It will only lead to a lower morale.

6. Admit Mistakes

Mistakes happen. If there’s a setback or something goes wrong, own it and fix it. Rather than giving up or giving in, you can try again and still achieve your desired results.

7. Patience

One of the primary traits that people must retain while working in a team is patience. Everyone comes to the table with different histories, perspectives, and expectations. Remaining patient and open-minded can help to forge strong and reliable bonds.

8. Ability To Delegate

Leaders need to be able to delegate tasks and work to their team. It’s common that leaders think they have to take on all the work, but that’s the whole reason for having a team.

9. A Strong Leader

Good teams need a good leader. A strong leader is a person who is able to actively listen, monitor results, give consistent feedback, and maintain trust and respect with every team member. A good leader doesn’t have to have all the answers, but they do need to be able to plan accordingly and work with others to achieve results.

10. Competitiveness

A little bit of competition can go a long way. A competitive spirit helps to promote advancement and innovation. It keeps people consistently trying to be better at every step of the way.

Top Qualities Of A Good Team

When working or studying a team, some of the top qualities to possess include:

1. Good Communication

The ability to communicate can make or break a team. Team members have to be able to share problems and solutions. They should also be able to communicate needs with one another.

2. Goal-Oriented

Defining a goal and outlining the process to achieve it is being goal-oriented. When everyone has the mission to accomplish the same thing, then you can work together to make it happen.

3. Cooperation

Cooperation is the process of working together to achieve the same goal. Cooperation is nearly synonymous with teamwork because it’s all about collaboration.

4. Supportive

One of the best aspects about working in a team is the support you can give and get from your team members. Being able to rely and trust one another can help people accomplish more than they ever imagined would be possible.

5. Diversity

Diversity comes in so many different forms. You can have diversity of race, gender, religion and also diversity of thought. Having a team made up of people from different walks of life can bring fresh perspectives and ideas to the team.

6. Organized

Organization is key in performing well in teams. That’s because there will be a lot of moving parts. Being able to consolidate work statuses and needs can keep a team moving forward.

7. Know How To Have Fun

Teams should also know how to have fun together! Teams can have fun on the job and outside the job. In fact, many of the strongest teams spend some time outside of work together to build personal relationships.

Key Team Dynamics

When building or managing a team, make sure that you can ensure the following dynamics are upheld:

• Psychological Safety: This type of safety is when team members feel like they can trust and rely on one another. Individuals in a team shouldn’t have to feel worried about being embarrassed or feeling insecure.
• Dependability: Team members should be able to trust that work will be executed on time and of expected quality. Since many people have their own inputs that they are responsible for to produce an outcome, everyone should feel like they can trust their team members to get their piece of the work done.
• Structure and Clarity: Defining a clear structure for the team can help everyone know who is responsible for what.
• Purpose and Meaning: Having a sense of purpose and feeling like your work matters can help individuals in a team remain motivated.

How To Build A Good Team For Success

Follow these tips and tricks to help build a successful team.

• Clarify roles and responsibilities
• Ensure management support
• Have common goals
• Practice active listening
• Promote team building outside the office
• Be consistent

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The Bottom Line

All team dynamics are different. Teams depend on the personalities of the members, as well as the leadership style of managers. However, the ingredients for what makes a successful team are similar across the board. Having mutual respect, common and aligned goals, open communication, and patience can all help make for a successful team.