Remember the leadership qualities, well now explore the characteristics of well-functioning teams.

Keep the following in mind:

• Teamwork improves the working environment.
• Teamwork keeps communication consistent.
• Teamwork relieves stress.
• Teamwork reduces errors.
• Teamwork keeps communication lines open.

Open Communications . . .

• Creates and maintains a climate of trust and open, honest communication.
• Allows team members to talk openly with one another.
• Promotes the exchange of feedback.
• Provide team members to work through misunderstandings and conflicts.

Commitment to a Common Purpose and Performance Goals . . .

• Keeps the purpose in the forefront of decision making and evaluations of team practices.
• Helps one another maintain the focus.

Shared Responsibility . . .

• Allows team members to feel equally responsible for the performance of the team and its outcome.
• Permits individuals to have primary roles for completing team tasks and remain flexible to do what is necessary to accomplish the team’s goals and tasks.

Use of Resources and Talents . . .

• Utilizes the resources and talents of all the group members.
• Makes good use of the team’s creative talent by openly sharing skills and knowledge, and encourages learning from one another.

Capacity for Self-Evaluation . . .

• Allows teams to stop and look at how well they are doing and what, if anything, may be hindering their performance and communication.

Participative Leadership

• Provides opportunities for team members to participate in decision making.
• Allows team members to help set goals and develop strategies for achieving these goals.
• Allows team members to help identify tasks and decide how to approach and evaluate them.

Characteristics of Effective Team Members

• Team members are supportive to achieve the results.
• Team members avoid "winning" or looking good at the expense of others.
• Team members keep the goal and the mission in mind.
• Team members are open to the ideas of others.
• Team members share information and ideas.
• Team members support the contribution of others.

Guidelines for Effective Team Membership

• Contribute ideas and solutions

The willingness of all team members to draw on their own expertise and experience to contribute ideas and solutions is what makes an effective team. You should feel comfortable enough in the team setting to express yourself, and know that your ideas have value. Creative input from a variety of member perspectives is the basis of effective problem solving. Team "norms must encourage contributions, not inhibit them."

• Recognize and respect differences in others.

Creative, effective teams bring together individuals with widely divergent skills and backgrounds who must work closely together to execute the tasks assigned to them. This can only be accomplished in an atmosphere of mutual respect and willingness to listen. You won't always agree with the ideas other team members bring to a discussion, but you should always be willing to listen without prejudice and contribute positively to the problem-solving process.

• Value the ideas and contributions of others

A willingness to respect ideas and opinions that differ from your own is the cornerstone of positive and interactive teamwork. Input from every member of the groups should be carefully weighed and evaluated, never disparaged.

• Listen and share information

Really listening to what other team members have to say is one of the most vital skills you can contribute to a productive team atmosphere. You should always be willing to give an attentive ear to the views of other team members and expect them to do the same for you.

• Ask questions and get clarification

If an idea isn't clear to you, it is your responsibility to the team to ask questions until the matter is clarified. The field of education often has a language all their own; asking questions to cut through the jargon will benefit all participants.

• Participate fully and keep your commitments

To fully participate, you have to contribute ideas, challenge conventional ways of doing things, ask questions, and complete the tasks assigned to you in a timely and professional manner. These are your responsibilities. Without the enthusiastic participation of all its members, a group is just a collection of individuals. The unique skills and viewpoints you bring to the team are crucial to the successful completion of tasks.

Team Climate Survey

Take the following team climate survey, to see where your board stands as a team.

In this Module:

In the Toolkit: