What does it take to build great teams?

What does it take to build great teams?

A key task of effective leadership is building great teams. What is a great team?

Great teams are:

• Productive
• Cohesive
• United
• Able to effectively communicate
• Know how to resolve conflict
• Understand their goals
• Drive towards success

What leader doesn’t want all of those characteristics in all of their team members?

A few months ago I wrote about great leaders building united teams:

Great leaders build united teams

I stand by this blog. It is true. Great leaders do know how to build united teams. That said, united teams are not always strong, effective teams. Yes, being united is part of being on a great team but being great takes more than being united. Building great teams doesn’t just magically happen. Building a great team takes:

• Patience
• Time
• Risk
• Sometimes a do-over 
• Constant evolution

Teams that work great together are because of great leadership. Effective leaders understand how to:

• Commit time to the hiring process
• Never settle on a candidate
• Train new hires
• Provide teams with necessary tools
• Set goals/expectations
• Run interference when needed
• Hold teams accountable
• Effectively communicate
• Address issues as they arise
• Make changes if needed

Effective leaders understand that committing the time to build great teams will pay off in the long run. These leaders know that reward is worth the effort. There is often pain in building teams and great leaders can endure the pain while building their teams. 

Commit the time to building a great team. You will not regret it.