"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."
This is a summary of Characteristics of Successful Teams from Business Communication’s process and product.
The first characteristic to successful teams is diversity within a group with particularly two to twenty-five members; groups that are smaller and more diverse are more likely to consist of added creativity. It is important for teams to have a purpose within the group, and all group members are working towards a common goal and purpose. A valuable attribute is to be able as a group to agree on procedures and values to help the group as a whole achieve their goals and every member is given a role and task to complete. Another characteristic to successful teams involves the capability to confront and control conflicts; when a group confronts a difference in opinion it is important to resolve the issue by allowing one person to speak at a time to avoid confusion and wasted time.Also it is important to have good communication skills; when one person is speaking freely and openly other members of the group should be actively listening and interacting with the speaker by asking questions to simplify the speakers ideas. To ensure a successful teams it is important to have ability to think in a “team mentality”; teammates should all be interested in achieving the same goals and celebrate group and individual achievements. Lastly, groups should set up ethical values for each other and should not discuss this information with people outside of the group.
In Conclusion there are seven basic steps to creating successful teams which involve diversity within groups, having a purpose, agreements with procedures, the ability to control and confront conflicts directly, effective communication and active listening, being goal oriented towards the team and group accomplishment as well as individual ones, and setting a ethical standard within your group with full confidentiality.
In my opinion the article “characteristics of successful teams” is very helpful.
I believe that this article will help groups that do not know where they should begin when in a group environment as a guide. I think that having a purpose within a group is important to help members focus on tasks and responsibilities towards a common goal. It is important to have standards for other people in your group to help you feel comfortable. Confronting problems is important because it helps clear the air and gets rid of any excess frustration. Communication is important not only in groups but when interacting with other in the real world; it is important to be clear when you are communicating with other so that the message is not lost. I think teammates should think with a "team mentality" because it helps them feel connected and associated with the accomplishments of the group as a whole. Finally, I think it is a good idea to have codes of conduct in groups such as you would with a client if you were working at a law firm, you would not just divulge personal information about your client to all your co-workers or friends because it is unethical.
Rockwell, D. R. (2013, Feb 20). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/
Guffey, M. E., Rhodes, K., & Rogin, P. (2011). Characteristics of successful teams. (6th ed., pp. 48-49). United States: South-Western: a Part of Cengage Learning.
