The following are the foundations for successful teamwork:

1. Motivation and Purpose

It is important for a team to have a challenging task. And ensuring that each team member understands how their individual skills contribute to the project’s progress is key. In addition to professional motivation, the overriding aim – the “purpose” – also plays a decisive role.

Example: A team aims to develop an innovative app to improve health and fitness. The purpose of the project is to help people live a healthier lifestyle. This sense of purpose unites the team and provides members with a sense of being part of something bigger.

2. Team structure: Professional skills and soft skills

The composition of a team is critical for its success. Professional skills are important, but members must be willing to support each other.

Here, soft skills play a major role: communication skills, empathy and creativity are crucial for harmonious and effective collaboration. They enable team members to communicate well with each other, avoid misunderstandings, manage conflicts and find new, innovative solutions. This creates an environment where all members can reach their full potential. It is important to balance professional qualities and soft skills when putting together a team.

3. Task management and distribution

A clear division of roles and tasks is a key to successful collaboration. Clearly defined responsibilities prevent the duplication of work or a situation in which essential steps are not completed because of a misplaced assumption that another team member is taking care of it.

Work also needs to be evenly distributed. Neither individual members nor the entire team should be overloaded. The feeling of being taken advantage of is toxic to motivation and to the team climate!

4. Performance balance

All team members with comparable positions should be performing at a similar level. Small differences can promote healthy competition, but large disparities in performances can be counterproductive.

It is advisable to find a harmonious balance between the junior, mid and senior levels when putting a team together. Team members with higher levels of performance can serve as motivation and inspiration, while those who need support should be encouraged to develop further.

5. Team leadership

Even though teamwork is primarily about collaboration, clear leadership is essential. Flat hierarchies and shared responsibility are important aspects. Decisions should be discussed as a team to make each member feel significant. A good team leader takes all opinions seriously but retains decision-making authority and responsibility.

In this role, the “I” – the individual – is essential to the team's operation. This “I” serves to strengthen the team as a whole. Thus, a leading "I" is necessary and tolerable in any team as long as actions and decisions of the team leader are professionally, and not personally, motivated.

For example: Even in agile teams that eschew traditional hierarchies, an individual role of critical importance exists: that of the Scrum Master, a facilitator and moderator who always has a grasp of the big picture and provides direction.

6. Sense of belonging

For good teamwork, it is important that each team member builds a stable and trusting connection to the group. Team building activities are one way to strengthen this bond and ensure that everyone is working toward a common goal.

Things like a regular “Wednesday walk.” This could be a weekly volunteer activity where the team comes together to take a joint walk in the area, a bit of exercise that promotes fitness and well-being while also providing an informal opportunity to build relationships and strengthen team culture.

7. Innovative Methods

Fruitful teamwork results from the application of inspiring methods. This requires the courage to leave the beaten track and test new approaches.

Take reverse mentoring, for example, a concept that entails a younger person teaching an older one something new, thus reversing the traditional roles and turning the common mentor principle on its head. A younger person who is tech-savvy could teach a longtime manager the latest technologies or how to use social media, for example. In addition to promoting individual development, reverse mentoring also strengthens ties between different generations and contributes to cultural change by breaking down traditional hierarchies and fostering an atmosphere of knowledge sharing.

8. Team atmoshpere and trsparency

The atmosphere within a team plays a decisive role in its productivity and satisfaction. An open and respectful climate for communication in which new ideas are valued and mistakes are seen as learning opportunities contributes to a positive team atmosphere.

Transparency is a key element here. To ensure a high level of trust and collaboration, all team members should always have access to all relevant information. Concealing information, also known as information-hiding, can significantly damage team spirit. A lack of transparency creates feelings of frustration, dissatisfaction and resistance within a team. It is thus important to cultivate a culture of openness and information sharing.

9. Conflict management

When people work together, conflicts become unavoidable; however, accomplished teams possess the ability to leverage these conflicts as catalysts for improvement. Instead of ignoring conflicts or assigning blame, disagreements should be addressed openly and constructively. The following is a helpful guiding question for dealing constructively with conflict situations: “What can we change about our work structure or how we work together to avoid the friction that exists?” Fostering joint solutions is crucial for continually enhancing cooperation within the team.

10. Feedback and a culture of learning

Within a thriving team, members exhibit a willingness to enhance their skills and embrace new learning opportunities. The integration of continuous feedback, self-reflection on individual performance, and collaborative learning serves are driving forces behind team success. This fosters an atmosphere where mistakes are not feared, but rather embraced as valuable lessons on the path to success. A supportive working environment that neither stifles nor intimidates nurtures initiative, a strong performance drive, and a sense of camaraderie within the team.

An essential feedback principle for teams is to consistently attribute success to the entire team, whether it be through positive customer feedback or surpassing milestones ahead of schedule. While individual accomplishments can be acknowledged and celebrated, it is important to avoid consistently elevating them above those of the team.

By adhering to these ten Golden Team Rules, you can pave the way for a successful collaborative endeavor. Best of luck!