What Is a Strong Team? (Plus How To Build One)

Many successful businesses understand the value of promoting a strong sense of team culture within the workplace. Supervisors work with their employees to form strong teams that can function as successful working units. Having strong teams can increase employee performance and encourage innovation, which can lead to more company revenue.

In this article, we discuss what a strong team is, give examples of qualities commonly found in strong teams and share how you can create a strong team culture at work.

Related: How To Create an Innovative Culture at Work

What is a strong team?

A strong team is one in which employees work closely together and contribute to the overall quality and success of a business. In a work environment where multiple staff members work together closely every day, it's essential that they function well to complete their tasks.

A company can have a variety of teams, ranging from large to medium to small teams. The size and combination of people on these teams may depend on factors such as company size, the teams' objectives and how these teams can positively affect both the employees' productivity and the business.

Related: How To Communicate Expectations to Employees

Qualities of a strong team

There are multiple qualities that can contribute to a strong team, including :

• Team expectations: When you establish a team, consider creating a list of group expectations and making a copy for each member. Team leaders can explain expectations to the team, allowing time for the members to ask questions and ensure that everyone understands their roles.

• Effective communication: Members of a strong team can communicate well with one another by listening to others, sharing their thoughts and accepting feedback from other team members. Communication is often essential for team projects and can help increase productivity and work output.

• Goal-oriented: Strong teams often create measurable goals at the beginning of their projects and discuss actions that can help them achieve those goals. Some teams may even decide how each person can contribute to the team's goals so everyone understands what they need to complete.

• Equal contributions: In a strong team, everyone tries to make equal contributions to the work effort. When everyone focuses their efforts on a common goal, it can create a sense of companionship because each member contributes to the overall success of the project or goal.

• Supportive environment: When team members offer support to one another during potential challenges, it can help the team increase their overall productivity and establish a sense of morale. Team members who feel supported may be more likely to do their best and offer their support when others need it.

• Diversity of skills: Having employees with different personal strengths can help the entire team complete a project effectively. A team leader can assign roles based on individual strengths so everyone can efficiently work on tasks they're skilled in and help complete the project by its deadline.

• Good leadership: A strong team can thrive by having a leader motivating the team and being direct when necessary. Leaders may update the team frequently with recent information relating to projects or impending objectives.

• Work-life balance: A strong team leader understands the importance of their team members having a good work-life balance. These teams can be more likely to feel rested and prepared to focus on their workload when they're back in the workplace.

Related: Positive Working Environment: Definition and Characteristics

How to build a strong team culture

Here's a list of suggestions for how you can build a strong team culture in your organization:

1. Make teamwork a part of the culture

As a manager, consider making teamwork one of your company's core values. Explain to your current team, new hires and future employees that everyone's contributions to the organization are important to the business model. You can show that you value teamwork by providing employees with opportunities to work in smaller teams and accomplish a shared objective.

Related: How To Build a Team Culture (With Steps and Tips)

2. Cross-train employees

Cross-training is the practice of training employees to work in several roles. This can allow employees to see how other departments within the business function. Allowing employees to switch roles occasionally may also help them develop a greater appreciation for the daily tasks that other teams complete. This practice can be beneficial for all employees because they can perform others' duties if the need arises.

3. Assign important goals

Rather than giving teams simple daily tasks to complete, consider assigning them an important goal that could challenge them as a team. For example, in a sales company, a supervisor could ask teams to create a plan for achieving the most leads in company history within a week. This could give teams a chance to achieve a common, realistic goal, and members could give input from their unique perspectives to help.

Related: The Components of Effective Workplace Communication

4. Research other companies' models

It may be useful to learn how other successful companies engage in teamwork to incorporate ideas from other organizations into your framework. For example, you may find research on the success of giving teams multiple modes of communication, like in-person meetings, group texts and team emails. You can then implement those communication forms within one of your teams and monitor their engagement to see if it has similar results.

5. Meet regularly

Encourage your teams to meet regularly to promote active engagement, build friendships and give teams a chance to collaborate. Discuss with your teams how often you'd like them to meet and consider asking them to create a team meeting schedule. Depending on the length of the meeting and the type of work your team completes, it might be helpful to meet daily or weekly.

6. Get to know your team

Giving employees a chance to get to know each other can help build team culture. Activities such as celebrating birthdays, holidays and promotions can create fellowship among team members, giving them a chance to connect on a personal level and discover their teammates' strengths and skills. With a better understanding of one another, they may be more likely to help their teammates during projects.