5 characteristics of a successful team

Why are some teams effective and successful while others end without a single positive accomplishment? Here are five things the winning teams have in common.

Share a common vision and purpose

The key is the word “share”. All team members need to fully buy-in to the goals of the team. The more enthusiastic the members are individually the more they be engaged in achieving the desired outcome. Anything short of a full dedication to the vision and purpose of the team charter will translate into a lack of achievement.

Empowered to make decisions

As the team works toward accomplishing its goal it needs to be empowered to make decisions. The team will be bogged down and thrown off its timeline if every critical decision requires approval for necessary decisions to resolve obstacles along the way. To empower a team, they need to know of any sacred cows or non-negotiables and given enough information about key performance indicators they will need to consider in their process.

Meaningful participation in decisions

In successful teams all key decisions have been made by full participation in the decision-making process. If decisions are made by one or two team members and objections or concerns of other members are not taken into account, it is possible a significant roadblock will appear to delay or even reroute the team.

Interdependent / shared leadership

Every team member is as important as every other team member. The head of the team absolutely must understand this. Arrogance or power plays by the team leader will kill team engagement. The leader is more like the captain of a ship. They may steer the team by gently moving the rudder by they cannot control how fast the tide is going.

Broadly-defined jobs

The roles of team members must be broad enough to allow them to go beyond their normal areas of responsibility. This will require they can openly and without restriction talk to subject matter experts along the way. As with the empowerment trait of the team, it is important they have as much knowledge as necessary to accomplish their team charter.

About the author:

Rick Weaver has half a century’s experience in leadership development in retailing. He founded Max Impact Corporation, a leadership and business development consultancy company in 2002. His major accomplishments include working himself from stock clerk to director at a Fortune 50 retail chain and building a $40MM+ construction company in under 5 years. Today he works as an Executive Search Consultant with Patrice & Associates matching management talent with the job culture for which they are uniquely wired.