Team (noun) a group of players forming one side in a competitive game or sport.

Team (verb) come together as a team to achieve a common goal.

I’ve spent a lot of time the past couple of weeks hearing and talking about teams. All kinds of teams: work teams, athletic teams, couples who work as a team, even our political leaders. For the past couple of weeks, the conversation has not been about successful teams, but rather unsuccessful teams. Dysfunctional teams. 

These conversations have sent me into research mode. What happens between people that make them so unable to work together, so unable to find a common ground, so unable to put aside their anger to actually hear one another? How do you take people who are that far apart and get them to work together? How do you build a team when no one is listening? It’s a major problem in our schools, our communities, our country. So, in the hopes of building a bridge, I thought I would share some information that I found on building a strong team — whether it’s in your business, your school, your place of worship, your home or in our community.

The following are suggested as the building blocks of building an effective team:

Clear objectives: Understand that a team has mutually-agreed aims and objectives. It is imperative that everyone has a clear understanding of what they are.

Balanced roles: A good team knows how to balance the skills, abilities and aspirations of its members. On an effective team, every member has a clear understanding of each individual’s role in achieving the overall team objectives. 

Effective processes: Teams that work have developed
good processes for making, communicating, implementing and reviewing decisions. Effective information systems are
in place and coordination of resources is key to the team’s success.

Good communication: Meetings are the bane of most teams. Particularly when meetings don’t really serve a purpose other than checking a block or are battlegrounds where axes are ground between the members of the teams. Meetings must be productive and everyone involved has to have a voice. If that isn’t the case, then frustration builds and the team moves further apart instead of together..

Appropriate leadership: A successful team has a leader. If the leader fails, the team fails. If there is mistrust between the team and its leadership then nothing is going to be accomplished. 

Support and trust: Members of the team have to have respect and trust in their teammates. They  help each other by listening, evaluating, offering ideas, encouraging experimentation and giving support. 

Openness and conflict: People express themselves openly and honestly. That means people talk to one another in a civil manner. A differing opinion, is not a reason for name calling or abuse. True team members must be will to work through difficult situations or conflict constructively. 

Mutual cooperations: There is a readiness to be involved and committed. Individuals’ abilities, knowledge and experience are pooled and used by the team. There is acceptance of each others’ strengths and weaknesses. One team member does not use the other’s weakness against them, instead steps up to fill the gap.

Individual development: ‘Mistakes’ are faced openly and used as a vehicle for learning. Individuals are given opportunities to develop new skills and experience. A coach who takes a player out of the game because they male a mistake isn’t teaching the player anything. A great coach knows that a player learns from his or her mistakes. They become better for the making of them. A good coach also knows not to let the mistakes go on for a long period of time, when that happens, instead of being a teaching tool, the mistake becomes a weapon.

Regular review: The team regularly reviews its performance and goals and alters its priorities and practices in the light of review. That means they make an honest assessment of what has happened and use the assessment not to place blame, but to move forward.

If you take a close look at where we are today, it would seem that these common sense approaches to teamwork could really help our city, our state and our country.