Do your team have these 3 must-have characteristics to be effective?

There are 3 characteristics teams must have in order to be effective. Do your teams have them?

There are 3 characteristics teams must have in order to be effective. Do your teams have them?

Without these characteristics, your teams are destined to fail. Just kidding. But your teams will likely suck.

These characteristics will determine the level of impact teams will make. The more mature they are with these characteristics, the greater the impact they will have.

Here are the 3 must have characteristics of effective teams:

1. Teams must be cohesive.

Cohesive teams have a culture of interdependence. Each team member must have a sense of healthy dependence on other team members. Teams having a culture of independence know that outcomes will not be met if they don't work together. Team members know that they succeed when their team members succeed.

2. Teams must be adaptable.

Adaptable teams are able to manage change well. Adaptable teams not only handle change well, but they expect it and anticipate it. These teams understand that expectations always evolve as they make progress towards an objective. Team members each have a high level of agency allowing the teams to take action especially when circumstances and conditions aren't ideal.

3. Teams must be empowered.

Empowered teams have the skills needed to complete an objective, the ability to focus on an objective, and sufficient autonomy to make necessary decisions.

• Skills: An effective team has all the tools needed to get a particular job done.

• Focus: Effective teams don't go after more than one objective at a time. Yes, that takes discipline from leaders.

• Autonomy: Effective teams have minimal dependencies giving them the space to make the decisions they need to make to move fast. "Do as you're told" leaders suck the life out of teams.

Many of these characteristics depend on the leadership within and of the teams. It takes a certain level of leadership maturity for teams to develop an effective level of cohesion, adaptability, and empowerment. Afterall, effective teams don't make themselves. They are developed by leaders.

What are you doing to develop effective teams?