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Most organizations have come to rely on well-coordinated teams with each person doing his or her part to complete critical projects and to achieve organizational goals. Individuals benefit from teamwork too. When you work on a team you improve your interpersonal skills, expand your personal network, and use your best individual strengths while learning new skills form others. The best performing teams communicate often, and in a timely manner. The most common single factor that causes team failure is a lack of ability to communicate effectively. Another common barrier to effective communication, and thus team performance, is unnecessary conflict. A key strength for good team members is the ability to reducing or eliminating some of the common sources of this conflict.

For a team to be successful, all team members need to agree on key elements at the beginning of the project. Newly formed teams should focus on the process issues. This means that in addition to your team deciding on what they need to so, or who is going to do it, your team must come to an agreement on how you will work together. A great deal of unnecessary conflict can be avoided if specific elements of team performance have been agreed upon first. When you team has come to an agreement on these issues, create a document to record what you have decided. It should be clear and concise listing all team members and how they will actively participate in the project. It should cover things such as goals, performance expectations, deadlines, meetings, timelines, and quality of work. It should also specify frequency and amount of communication that is to take place. Although some teams quickly learn how to work well together, most teams need time to develop their collaborative working relationships. Teams go thorough 4 stages of development.

Forming: When a team first beings to form, everyone is usually polite and considerate. You exchange information about your schedules, when and where you can meet, and how you can contact each other. Usually, expectations for the team and its success are high and conflicts are not evident.

Storming: The team eventually begins to encounter problems that are not easily resolved. Members begin to feel tense and anxious about the success of the project. Some team members may being to feel disillusioned and discouraged.

Norming: This stage begins when team members start to manage conflict and achieve positive outcomes. This is where teams begin to be truly productive.

Performing: At this stage of team development, members have learned how to work together and are able to use their differences as a source of strength. Although problems will continue to arise, a performing team feels comfortable confronting and resolving these issues. Members begin to enjoy working together and are glad they don't have to complete the project alone. The success of the project becomes more important than individual goals.

Almost all teams experience some form of evolution, although many do not make it fully to the performing stage. If you know to expect politeness at the outset, some conflict along the way, and some normal performance after the conflict has resolved, then you will have a better chance of navigating all these stages with a positive outlook.

Team meetings are critical for determining tasks, sharing ideas, and making decisions. To avoid falling into the trap of holding too many meetings where not enough get done, plan your meetings in advance by:

1. Create an effective agenda

Base the agenda on input from each team member. At the top of the agenda, include the day, time, and location of the meeting. Also state the purpose of the meeting. This will help keep the discussion on track. List all the topics to be discussed, or all the decisions that need to be made, and estimate the time each item will require. Although you may need to be flexible with time during the meeting, time estimates will help the team get through all the topics efficiently. It is recommended practice that you assign each topic to a team member to ensure that all team members have some responsibility during the meeting. If team members are not responsible for anything on the agenda, reconsider whether they need to attend the meeting. Always include a wrap-up as the last item on your agenda. This reminds you to end the meeting by reviewing the actions and deadlines that everyone agreed upon and scheduling the next meeting's time and place. Distributing the agenda before the meeting ensures that all the team members know what will be expected, who is responsible, and what their roles will be during the meeting.

2. Assign special roles to team members

One team member should agree to 'chair' or 'facilitate' each meeting. This role can be held by the same person for the duration of your time together as a team, or can be shared amoung other members. The chair keeps track of how well the meeting follows the agenda. If the meeting becomes sidetracked on unrelated matters or if participants are stuck on unproductive tangents, the facilitator can bring the conversation back to the necessary topic. Another team member should take notes. The note taker will produce meeting minutes, a written description of what was discussed, what was decided, and what actions will follow. Not everything that was said needs to be recorded, but the minutes should include assignments (who agreed to do what) and deadlines (when they agreed to submit deliverables).

Although a team works together to achieve a common goal, it is still made up of individuals. Each individual needs to take responsibility for their own tasks and also contribute to a productive working relationship with others. Being a valued team members means following certain behaviours. This includes making a commitment to the team and its goals, creating a collaborative working environment, and supporting team decisions. A team can establish leadership in a number of ways. One person can serve as leader, leadership can rotate during phases of the project, or different leaders can take responsibility for different aspects of the project. It is not crucial for the team to have one single leader. However, it is crucial for the team to have capable leadership that keeps the overall goal of the team and project in mind. Remember that if you agree to be team leader, that role does not put you "in charge" of the team. Instead, it puts you at the service of your team. An effective leader is a person who has the skills to bring out the best in others, manage work processes, ad help the team succeed. A leader can serve the team by:

Over-communicate: Teams can get nervous about someone assuming "leadership" even if they have explicitly asked that person to do so. You can help your team feel at ease with you if you are as transparent as possible. This means you share all information you have, all decisions made, and all new incoming communications from outside the team with the team. You can do this by having regular and active meetings, through email, or via any collaboration or discussion boards you share information with. The more you communicate, the more the team will trust your leadership.

Reinforce team objectives:One of the most valuable roles for any leader is to keep the team focused on the ultimate objective and remind the team why that goal is valuable. Teams can easily get bogged down in the details of the work and forget why the project is worthwhile. AN effective leader will re-energize team members by refocusing then on the overall goals.

Create a supportive climate: Teams work best when team members feel that they can take risks and will be listened to and respected. A team leader can set the tone for the team by encouraging creativity and being positive and respectful role model. Although teams can take many approaches, like majority vote, to decision making, important decisions should never be made by giving in to the team member who is the loudest and most assertive. A team leader can ensure that the team makes a fact-based judgment and is able to support all its decisions with sound evidence and reasoning.

Anyone who has had a successful work team experience will tell you that conflict plays an important role in team development. Conflict can be divided into two categories:

Cognitive conflict - which results from differences in understanding content or tasks

Affective conflict - which results from differences in personalities and relationships

Problems arise when teams allow these cognitive conflicts to become effective conflicts. For example, two people working on a presentation may disagree about the best way to create a visual aid. If they work through the cognitive conflict, listen carefully to each other's concerns, and achieve consensus, the result may be better than if they pursued only one idea without challenging it. If the two people cannot reach an agreement and leave the meeting in anger, this emotional conflict may damage the working relationship. Problems also arise if conflicts remain unstated and unaddressed, leading to tension, stress, and a dysfunctional work process.