3 Marks of a Lasting Business Team

The best sports teams don’t just come together automatically. It can take months, even a year or two, for a coach to really find a successful team. Business teams don’t just happen either. Although many managers believe that the secret is to hire competent people and let them do their job, business teams need to be carefully curated and managed. Here are some tips to bring together a group of people who will work together well.

Have a Plan

Know what goals you want to achieve before you start bringing people together. It’s important that the team knows where it’s going. Have a measurable objective, so your business team can track its progress.

Create a team culture

If you don’t create the team culture, your team will do it for you. You need to have some basic guidelines on how the team will operate, kind of like rules of the road. Setting up some rules on how people should act will prevent politics and disagreements down the road. But you have to stick to your rules.

Respect team members

Business teams work best when team members believe that you listen to their concerns and ideas. Trust team members to get the work done. Don’t steal credit for their accomplishments. Treat your business team with respect and they’ll be in for the long haul.

Give everyone roles

Hold your team accountable for their job by making sure each person knows what is expected.

If they say they’re going to do something, make sure they follow through. Demonstrate accountability by doing what you say you’ll do.

Don’t let problems fester

Have the hard conversations. Discuss what you’ve observed and how it affects the team. Talk about your own feelings. Don’t assume you understand the motivations behind someone’s behavior.