Great Teams Require These 7 Characteristics

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Teamwork isn’t a natural evolution. In other words, teams don’t naturally evolve nor stay in tack when people “come together.” It takes strategic planning to cultivate the sort of teams that define high performance–you know, the types of teams that don’t dilly dally or ignore tough questions but instead get sh-t done?

Building Teams

It takes careful forethought and even more considerate execution to build great teams. Oftentimes it takes an outside coach or consultant to facilitate building the team (not to be confused with team building) simply because there is too much data in the form of social dynamics for the team leader to interpret, and what goes unsaid is oftentimes more important than what is.

If you’re in the process of building a team, start with the fundamentals. Teams are living, breathing systems that require daily cultivation, and they can’t grow into full blossom (i.e. potential) if the seeds don’t take root. Here are seven fundamentals to building great teams:

1. Clarity

Team members need clear guidance as to their roles, tasks, and purpose of the team. This is the most important element of building great teams because it enables communication and facilitates decisions. Without clarity, the team doesn’t know in which direction to row, how many people belong in the boat, or what the team stands for. Clarity—specificity—is paramount.

2. Competence

This may sound cheesy but it’s true: a team is only as fast as its weakest link. If a member on your team is not pulling his weight, you have two options: retain and train, or fire and forget. The former begs the question of, “Is this person willing and capable to perform the tasks required of his role?” If not, then you may consider pulling the trigger (to fire him–let’s be clear here). The cost of not letting subpar talent go will cost the team in cohesion.

3. Confidence

Confidence requires trust—trust in oneself and in others’ abilities to execute. It takes confidence to have difficult conversations. It takes confidence to ask powerful questions.

4. Chemistry

This is something that flies below the radar but is absolutely critical to building great teams. Chemistry entails fit—fit in personalities, work ethics, commitments. Without chemistry, the team will never reach optimal potential because chemistry lures members into teaming; it pulls rather than pushes members into feeding the synergy of the team and refining its competitive edge on a daily basis. If a team member isn’t in the right role, fix it.

5. Curiosity

Integral to team evolution is the willingness to challenge the status quo and grow, to question previously held assumptions by asking, “What if…?” and “How might we…?” Without curiosity, there’s no room to grow because the humility required to be curious has no space to present itself.

6. Consistency

Norms define how and when the team operates. The communication and decision making norms that define the team’s performance should be clear, reliable and consistent enough so they build trust and clarify expectations. Anything less than clear communication or decision making, see “clarity” above.

7. Cohesion

Cohesion isn’t something you build. Rather, it’s the byproduct of the above; the snowball at the bottom of the hill that, after having grown through its evolution has reached maximum potential.

Teams are continually growing and continually adapting. Take the temperature of your team with each “C” on a daily basis to gauge its high performing potential.

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