Team members must believe their team has an urgent and worthwhile purpose, and it up to you, as leader, to establish that sense of urgency and direction when you start your team. The more urgent and meaningful the goal is, the more likely it is that a successful team will emerge.

Establish Ground Rules

All teams develop rules of conduct to help them achieve their goals. These rules must apply to every member of the team, or they are ineffective. Common ground rules require that members:

• Be prompt, attend all meetings, and do not tolerate interruptions such as telephone calls.
• Keep discussion free and open – no sacred cows.
• Do not share personal revelations with people outside the team.
• Take an analytical approach, in which facts are friendly.
• Do not take cheap shots or point fingers at one another. Be honest but diplomatic in their criticism, and respect people’s comments.
• Share responsibilities and work.
• Focus on problems and situations, not on individuals.
• Use consensus to make decisions.
• Agree on the meaning of important vocabulary.
• Share appropriate information.
• Treat people equally.
• Stay focused and “on top” during meetings (see Conducting Effective Meetings).

Keep Members Informed

Challenge your team with fresh facts and information, which helps members set clearer goals.

Grow Together
Teams must spend a lot of time together, both scheduled and unscheduled, especially in the beginning. Creative insights require impromptu and casual interactions. Allow time for this.

Reinforcement Works Wonders
Recognize and reward desired behaviors. If a shy person speaks up, for example, praise the person. The chances are that praise will encourage him or her to do it again, which is good for the team as a whole.

Other Tips for Team Leaders (and Members):

1. Use all your leadership tools of coaching, counseling, mentoring and tutoring.
2. Show your team that you are committed and loyal to them, and that you trust in and are proud of them.
3. Share the credit.
4. Create subcommittees and give them decision-making authority.
5. Take turns having a different member lead the meetings.
6. Speak last in discussions, after you’ve heard from the others.
7. Clearly delineate when you’re expressing your opinion, as opposed to the opinion of the organization or of the team

After a team has achieved its goals, members must ramp down their activities, analyze their performance and determine how to be more effective in the future. In some cases, the team will be disbanded once it has carried out its responsibilities, and this can be difficult for some members who might have grown close in the process.

Next, understand the pitfalls of teambuilding. You don’t need to make the mistakes that most teams commit.

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