If you’ve ever been part of a great team, you know how rewarding it can be. So what is it that makes a team great and highly successful?
Common goal
When literally hundreds of people are asked about the contributors to a great team, a common goal or purpose almost always comes close to the top of the list. When a team has a common goal, all individual team members aim for the same goal or move towards the same destination. As a leader, it is vital to create a very clear and concise goal or outcome that you want from the team.
Good communication
Communication is the second essential element that contributes to a great team. A well-communicated team will not only be adept at speaking and writing, but will also be excellent at listening. Very often we gave two of the three key communication skills in teams. Great teams will have all three key communication skills.
Well organized
In a well-organized team, everyone fully understands their role and what they bring to the team. The team is adept at collectively finding the optimal way to achieve what they have to achieve in the shortest time possible.
Support and guidance
All teams have tough and challenging times and great teams have the support and guidance they need to face those tough and challenging times. This can come from the team leader, someone outside the team, or even team members.
Mutual respect
Having mutual respect on a team doesn’t mean that everyone on the team is always the best of friends and never disagrees on anything. What it does mean is that even where there are areas of contention, each team member respects the contribution that a teammate is trying to make. They keep their focus on the subject rather than the individual.
Adaptability
Even the best designed plans must be flexible enough. Great teams know that their ability to accomplish anything is influenced by their willingness to adapt to changing circumstances.
Bottom line: a few simple changes can often be all that is required to transform a team from mediocre to good and good to excellent. So what change could you make to start taking team performance to the next level?