Whilst the personalities of those involved play a role in this, good leadership and management can also inspire good teamwork. There are several characteristics shared by groups with good teamwork skills. These include:

Good communication between team members

Strong communication skills are important in many workplace scenarios, and they are directly related to how well one can work in a team environment. Being able to communicate in a mature and respectful manner can help build relationships between team members. Clear and effective communication is also vital for team leaders to adequately convey to team members what their roles and responsibilities include, while also communicating deadlines and milestones effectively.

A lack of clear communication can cause confusion and disjointed teamwork, which prevents progress towards team objectives. This could involve efforts being duplicated if team members don’t have a clear idea of responsibilities and tasks. For example, if a team leader issues a series of tasks without appropriately communicating how team members are to split up the tasks, some tasks may be duplicated, while others are left pending or incomplete as the project moves forward. Overall, this may lead to poor team morale and dissatisfaction.

Mutual respect for others

A respectful environment fosters goodwill and co-operation between people working together as a team. Some teams comprise people with different abilities and skill sets. A team that can understand and respect their personal differences provides the best possible environment for people to thrive and use their unique skills to benefit the team. Teams that accept people from different backgrounds and treat one another respectfully and fairly help encourage positive and open communication.

Feeling comfortable speaking freely

In order to perform at their best, it’s important that everyone in a team feels comfortable expressing their ideas. This can only happen if they know that the team treats everyone fairly and that team members can listen and compromise. People with strong teamwork skills know that their ideas may not always be the best and may be open to taking advice, guidance and solutions from other people if it means that the team moves further towards their goal. In an effective team, participants at all levels of seniority feel comfortable expressing their ideas without fear of undue criticism.

Co-operation and conflict resolution between team members

Conflicts and disagreements can still happen, even in the most supportive and collaborative team. When they do happen, a successful team can diffuse the tensions by addressing the problems head-on and finding a mutually agreeable solution. This might involve openly discussing problems and finding diplomatic approaches, such as a voting system, to decide between competing solutions.

Encouraging equal participation

A good team understands the skills that each team member brings and recognises how best to utilise these skills to work towards the team’s ultimate goal. This works best when all team members take responsibility for inclusion and work closely together. In the best-case scenario, the team wants to encourage and support individuals to involve themselves in the ongoing work and play to their strengths. Strong leadership is also important to inspire this in a team.

Mutual support and positive attitudes

A team that supports each other, with team members wanting each other to succeed and do well, is likely to be more successful than one in which team members are excessively competitive or passive-aggressive. Good teamwork means that personal interactions between members are free from micro-aggressions, discrimination and other unpleasant speech that might make colleagues feel uncomfortable or upset. It’s important for team members to handle disagreements calmly and respectfully.

Shared values and common goals

Shared values are an important part of a team’s ethos. Having common values helps a team to work together and put aside any differences as they work towards a goal they all want to achieve. The fact that they are ultimately all aiming for the same thing creates a connection that reinforces a sense of teamwork and co-operation. It helps each team member to feel they are part of something bigger and they may feel more resilient than if they were working alone.