The 7 secrets
of an ideal team
The ideal team is not too large, is diverse in composition, and focused on a clear goal. And there are more success factors. Below are the seven secrets of effective teamwork.
1. Keep it small
The ideal size for a team is about seven people. Operational teams can sometimes be as large as 25. But when you work closely together, it’s important to know each other well. You’ll invest in building relationships with six others, but when you work with 24 people, you’re less likely to consider everyone’s preferences. A management team that needs to be flexible and decisive is better off with even fewer members: five or six.
2. Ensure diversity
A team full of perfectionists may sound ideal. But it’s not. Well-functioning teams consist of people who complement and challenge each other. Teams made up solely of creatives come up with great ideas, but never manage to turn them into concrete results.
Diversity may actually lead to better outcomes, because it forces more reflection and a clear goal. These are also two key success factors for effective teamwork. That’s why research has been done on the relationship between a team’s effectiveness and its internal differences in gender, education, age, and the length of time members have been part of the group. And indeed: highly diverse teams proved to be more reflective and performed better than homogeneous teams.
3. Distribute the roles well
What roles exist in a well-functioning team? First and foremost, a strong and intelligent chairperson is needed. And this is often where things go wrong. For example, an organization that, after many conflicts, was sent to a teambuilding course. It quickly became clear that the team leader was not giving enough direction and was not formulating clear objectives. The manager came from the private sector and thought he could take a more hands-off approach at the municipality and let the group decide. Meanwhile, the group was actually looking for guidance.
The ideal leader is patient but clear, trustworthy, and able to use the group’s talents. Without dominating the discussion, he or she must be able to make the right decisions at the right time.
In addition to a leader, an intelligent and creative team member is also needed for essential creative solutions. Ideally, the team also includes one person with above-average intelligence to work with the creative and the leader in making decisions. Other team members might be good at translating concepts into practical work procedures (the ‘implementer’), maintaining contact with the outside world (the ‘resource investigator’), or keeping the group together (the ‘teamworker’).
4. Match personalities to the group task
The desired traits of team members are closely related to the team’s task. The friendlier and more emotionally stable someone is, the better it is for the team. That goes for any team. But the extent to which members should be extroverted or headstrong does depend on the group’s task.
Extroversion has its positives and negatives. Extroverts are often easy to work with and consult a lot. That’s good for teamwork. But there’s a downside: they like to stand out and can be more dominant. This can result in show-off behavior. Many extroverted people in a self-managing team can clash; too many people want to be in charge and conflicts arise.
5. Ensure a clear objective
You can only achieve your goal if you have a clear goal. Every team member must know what he or she is responsible for. That can sometimes be difficult to define, but only then will individual members feel they have influence over the result. Make sure the focus is on results. The idea that team members first need to get to know each other before focusing on results turns out not to be true. If a team starts out as a social club, it will be difficult to later shift to a businesslike and goal-oriented approach.
6. Keep conflicts professional
Wherever people work closely together, conflicts also arise. Effective teams know how to avoid many conflicts, because they have set clear task boundaries. Personal conflicts often arise when work procedures are unclear and people don’t know what their tasks are. Make sure it’s clear who depends on you and whom you depend on. And make good agreements with those team members. If a clash does occur, don’t take it personally. Realize that conflict is inevitable when working together. You’re better off leaving behind the idea that everyone has to like each other.
7. Keep reflecting
Teams that regularly take time to reflect on their own performance have better planning, are more focused on the long term, and pay closer attention to signals from their environment. By reflecting, you can learn from your mistakes. This is valuable when making important decisions and completing projects.
During evaluations, teams should not only look inward, but also outward to the world around them. Teams can grow if they manage to stay updated with new developments. In fact, changes outside the team, such as the emergence of competitors or new technologies, can greatly affect the team’s task.
Finally: a great team isn’t built in a week away at a retreat. Growth takes time. It will take a while before all team members know what to expect from each other and everything runs smoothly. It can take about two to three years before a team is truly functioning well.
Source: Psychologiemagazine
Want to know more about teaming? Read about TOP by MEPD.
