As a leader of a team, there are many things you can do to help your team work more effectively together. Below are ten quick tips for building a successful team.

  1. Create clear communication. Communication is one of the key ingredients in a successful team environment – you want the people on your team to feel they can approach you if there is something amiss, allowing it to be worked out, instead of simmering under the surface. Communication should also be used to inform your team of specific goals that need to be met – your team will work harder if they know what they are working towards, and why.
  2. Allow team members to feel responsible. If your team has reached a goal, then allow recognize that each member has had an important part to play in reaching that goal. Also, let everyone be involved in decision making processes. If even just one person feels like they aren’t an important part of your team, the whole team could suffer.
  3. Encourage collaboration. By allowing and encouraging each team member to collaborate with other team members, each person will feel like they have a sense of ownership over what the team is working on.
  4. Give rewards when your team meets a target. Let’s face it – rewards motivate people. Giving rewards for meeting a target will encourage your team to work harder, and to work together, to reach goals.
  5. Get team members to do what they are good at. Matching members’ strengths to their responsibilities will allow your team member to work to their fullest potential without having to learn too many new skillsets, or feeling frustrated that they cannot work to their strengths.
  6. Be willing to acknowledge help. If someone offers to help you, accept it. If you need help, ask for it. And if someone has helped you, thank them. Lastly, don’t be above giving help if you’ve been asked for it.
  7. Get to the bottom of the problem. If there’s a problem with the team, don’t blame someone. Instead, work towards figuring out what went wrong and how it can be fixed.
  8. Define responsibilities. Everyone on your team should know what they are responsible for. If you have four members on your team, and they all think they are supposed to be responsible for one thing, that one thing will get duplicated effort spent on it, while other areas may not get any effort spent on them.
  9. Meet regularly. Meeting regularly will help all team members know what is going on with projects, and will allow members to voice any concerns they may have with what they are working on, and ask for help if needed.
  10. Build trust between team members. Each member of your team should feel they can trust any other team member if they need help with what they are working on.