6 Basic Characteristics of a Successful Team

When looking at some of the greatest and best teams worldwide many are often in awe of all the astounding things that they are able to succeed in accomplishing. So what makes those teams a success while so many others have no such or similar luck?

It often can be easily described, seen, and understood, but for those times in which that is not the case one might need to step back and evaluate why, in order to achieve the goals the desire to reach.

Questions to Help Define a Successful Team

To better understand your business success levels it is often a necessity to discover which of the primary characteristics of a successful team are not being met. To do this requires stepping back with the company's individual needs. Ask and answer the questions to follow is to some a great starting location to help define your own successful team.

  • What makes a successful team?
  • What do you think are the characteristics of an effective team?
  • Do your current staff members hold these characteristics of a good team?
  • Of those effective team characteristics missing, can they be taught?
  • What makes a team successful achieve as they do in your field?
  • What makes you a great team member?
  • Can you select the most crucial characteristics and qualities of a team?
  • What attributes are the key essentials needed for your workplace?

Teamwork Characteristics

Without a lot of thought it seems pretty reasonable to know that there are a set of key characteristics a team must hold in order to be successful. To follow we bring the six primary characteristics that a group cannot be successful without having at its core. Within the six primary characteristics resides the four primarily required roles to be filled within each group. These four rolls will be better explained below and are the Collaborator, the Communicator, the Challenger, and the Contributor.

1. Strong Leaders To Provide Leadership

Even the strongest of all the employees a company has working together does not combine together unless there is a strong leader or person in a leadership position. The Collaborator is another name of this leadership position. This is the person who has the primary focus being on the goal at hand. Other aspects defined by the collaborator roll include those that follow.

  • Shares the limelight with the other members and does not gossip about others.
  • Helps the team see mental and big picture fits into the company sector.
  • Flexible and willing to change with new ideas even those goal altering ones.
  • Helps set and clarify objectives and long-term timelines.
  • Reminds the team of goals, action plans, pointing out revisits.
  • Goes above and beyond basic duties and helps others by pitching in.

2. Clear Vision of the Common Goal

The Contributor has many goals and tasks to help teammates with the common goal and clear visions much like the Collaborator or team leader. Some of the other aspects the Contributor contribute not only to the vision and the goal can be found on the following list.

  • Serves as the trainer for other team members and shares clear priorities.
  • Meetings are demonstrations of their presentations and visual aids.
  • Accepts additional team member actions as their responsibility.
  • Sharing is the specialty with tips, information, and resources for example.
  • Number one, high achieving is where they push the team to reside.

3. Teamwork Shared Equally

You must make certain that everyone does their part. This is made easier if the four primary roles have been filled as they have the set aspects defined in which they do to help structure the rest of the team. If you have a feeling or are seeing more structure is needed go to old school methods and assign tasks by name to individuals, as it never hurts to make certain all are equal.

4. Defined Roles and Responsibilities are Clear

Above and beyond the six core characteristics there are four primary roles that need to be filled within each group. These rolls are the collaborator, the communicator, the contributor, and the challenger. Here The Challenger often is a huge help towards the team's success.

  • They are honest with progress, problems being faced and challenges the team.
  • They ask the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How’s that are needed.
  • They speak out often being seen as the “bad guy” who doesn’t always agree.
  • They question integrity, goals, viewpoints, or other aspects as needed.
  • They are the person known to assist keeping the leader on the right path.
  • They are often the one that backs the sole opinion or outsider to better unite.

5. Team members That Can Effectively Communicate

No matter the job, the task, or who your teammates are, without effective communication your team is doomed. However, even the greenest of groups can accomplish great things if they can actively talk things through, understand what it is the others are saying, and then successfully add more from that point. This is where The Communicator can often be key as some of their roles below can aid in the communication in so many different ways.

  • This is the non-defensive member of the team you can give feedback too.
  • This person than share that feedback in helpful and specific in nature to team as needed.
  • Encourages openness, getting to know one another, strengths, and personal aspects.
  • Summarizes and discusses status encouraging more precise teamwork.
  • This is the pat on the back person that get all to relax, joke, and be more united.
  • They listen attentively, plays go between, and is defuzzer fires that might ignite.

6. Celebrate the End Success

Many teams forget that this is just as important of a step as any of the others. For a team to be truly successful they have had to work together almost flawlessly and deserve a minute in the spotlight for these efforts, even if that spotlight is just among themselves. This end success time is very important in the overall company bonding process, future team moral, as well as important for future team jobs to see perhaps attracting future joining.

Workly To The Rescue

Time & Attendance system that many already use for scheduling software. Part of the celebrations following a successful team event or job situation some companies, when able, grant paid time off to an outside the building location for their fun cause. To make this time off happen super easy utilize the Workly scheduling software. A free 14-day trial is waiting for you thus making you have nothing to lose by giving it a try, especially with all the additional extras you are about to find available there.


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