Once you’ve been on a good team you’ll wonder why all teams can’t be that way! What makes a good team? First of all, being on a team and being a good member of that team is a choice! I once worked in a department where half of the team worked out of one location and the other half in another. Both locations would complain about the other half of the team. They were not working hard enough, the other half had to pick up their slack, they try to tell us how to do our job, they think they are the better team, and on and on. I had the opportunity to speak to the group and pointed out to them that whether or not they saw themselves as a larger team wasn’t management’s responsibility, it was theirs. They had to make the choice to accept that they were, indeed, a team and if there were issues getting in the way why were they not stepping up to help resolve the issues. We’ve all heard the adage to deliver a solution not just a problem and that was true in this instance.
Another attribute that makes up a good team is the willingness to contribute to the “greater good”. While components of the team may compete for top sales, for example, to do so at the expense of the over-all team and organization does not work long-term. Once you have individuals that are perceived as “holding out” or not sharing how they are having success you have a team that is focused not on moving the whole team forward but inwardly just on themselves, likely at the expense of the rest of the team.
Communication is also key on a good team. Being able to provide your manager and other teammates with ideas and feedback is the mark of a good team. While management may not always be able to act on the ideas a good team feels listened to and understands why management is going a different direction. If you are not hearing ideas from your team likely you have shown to be unwilling to listen or act of the ideas and eventually they will stop.
A good team usually starts at the top with the right foundation and environment being led from the top down. Is your team not what you need it to be? What are you doing to provide the proper foundation for a great team?