7 Keys to Building Effective Teams

I work with many early-stage entrepreneurs who face the frightening and exhilarating need to start building an effective team.

This is a critical fork in the road for a growing business, and it is essential to approach it thoughtfully instead of cobbling together a job description and starting an Indeed account.

It is easier to first consider what it takes to build a championship sports team, such as the 2009 Irish championship rugby team pictured above.

The critical first steps for building effective teams require embracing these ideas:

1. Strong Leadership: Every effective championship sports team must have a strong-willed Coach who can effectively inspire their team to exceed their collective expectations. The Coach doesn’t need to be just a dominant top-down commander. A Coach can be most effective by crafting the vision and molding that vision into actionable steps that help everyone perform at a peak level. Building effective teams also boils down to having several vital teammates who have bought into the mission of the Coach and are the go-to informal leaders who leverage the effectiveness of the Coach.

2. Common Goal: Building effective teams begins with thoroughly understanding what they are trying to attain. The Coach’s role is to clearly define that goal and portray it creatively and personally. The coach also needs to have the tenacity to aggressively and frequently remind the team of their individual contributions to that goal. Everyone on the team must be accountable for that common goal, or the entire team will significantly weaken.

3. Rules of the Game: Every effective team understands what is expected of them, not only in their performance but also in the boundaries that they have in how they perform. I always think of this as a code of conduct or behavioral expectations. It’s more than what you should do; it’s also how it should be done. These are the rules that effective teams have to live by. The champions usually have these written out, and there are frequent reminders that are touchstones about acceptable behavior.

4. Support Risk Taking: Building effective teams can only be accomplished by taking risks. Every effective team allows the players to ad-lib in the heat of the moment of an important game. This doesn’t mean anarchy or ignoring the rules of the game. Not every rule can be interpreted quickly when the pressure is on. Think of any important sporting event. While a play can be well designed, “stuff happens,” and the individual player must decide in a flash what must be done to win. Mike Tyson, the boxer, said, “The game plan changes when you get hit in the mouth.”

5. 100% Involvement/Inclusion: Every effective teammate has to be “all-in.” The Coach must openly share the results, address conflicts immediately and publicly, and honestly debrief the team’s shortcomings. There cannot be teammates who sit on the sidelines emotionally. They need to be traded if they can’t or won’t embrace the goals and rules. Those locker room malcontents should be optioned to another team quickly if they don’t engage and believe.

6. Action Plan: Every effective team has a laddered action plan that converts the vision & mission statements and the rules into incremental steps that will be the catalyst to get to the championship game. In sports, that means there are a series of plays that are well understood, well documented, sequential, and almost second nature. This game plan is the “how” that supports the “why” of the common goal.

7. Energy & Passion: Every effective team believes in and displays high energy and passion. Can you remember a championship game where you wondered if they wanted to win? High energy pumps up a team and allows success. Winners know how to take their game to the next level and how vital that energy and passion are to get to the finals.

I truly hope that you consider these 7 keys to building effective teams in your business. Championship sports teams share the same success attributes as your soon-to-be championship business team.

If you want to read more about success ideas, download my ebook or fill out the contact form, and we can talk about taking your business to the next level.

Coach Dave