4 Essential Elements of a Successful Team

Aristotle is quoted as saying: “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” When you are working in a team or if you must organise a team, this is certainly true. It is very rare that a successful team is just dependent on one or two team members. What is necessary to build a team that is greater than the sum of its parts?

Each team should be comprised of 4 essential elements or team member qualities that combine to make a successful team. These 4 types of people will help achieve success for your company and make your team operations more effective.

1 Find Solutions to Problems

Every successful team needs a person who skilled at finding the best solution to problems. This type of team member will stay with a problem until they find the most effective answer to any kind of difficult situation.

The qualities that this kind of team member needs are to be focused, determined, and, sometimes, ruthless. This is the person that will help motivate your team to act in the right way. They also need to be thorough because, usually, there is no one guaranteed solution to a problem. So, the “problem solver” of the team should explore all possibilities and come up with a few options for the team to decide upon.

Connections

The success of a team means having someone on it who has great connections. Or, at least if they don’t have the connections at present, has the needed skills to build relationships with important contacts.

For example, your “problem solver” may come up with a great solution to a problem. However, without the right connections, you may never be able to use the solution. So, think of your team “connector” as Google. They will put you in the right direction to find answers to the questions you have.

A team member with good connections will almost always have an answer to the question: “Do you know someone who can…?” This means that in the end, you can bring on board the right person or organization to help the team successfully complete its task.

The Motivator

Every successful team needs a motivator to help the team through difficult times and keep focus. The “team motivator” is a person who is not so much about how to get something done but to make sure that the task gets done. The motivator will make sure that it gets done in the specified timeframe. The motivator in the team can even help conquer self-doubts experienced by one team member or by the whole team.

The motivator in the team helps to provide stability to the team when things are going well and when things aren’t going so well. For example, when the team already feels driven, the motivator will be an invaluable help to keep the momentum going. However, if doubts, tiredness, or uncertainty creeps in, the motivator will help to provide the spark and drive that the team needs.

Challenger

Part of a successful team is the challenger. Of course, this isn’t someone who will challenge the team’s authority or cause problems with management. Every team needs someone who will ask questions and not always be a “yes” person.

Part of teamwork includes analysing performance and looking for ways to improve. So, the challenger reminds the team of reasons why things have gone wrong or what could have been done better. They are pushing the team to always achieve better success than before.

When you put together team members who have these 4 qualities, your team will be greater than the sum of its parts. You will find greater success and that your team is able to get tasks finished quicker and use fewer resources.