What’s The Secret To A Winning Team?

When it comes to finding a winning formula or knowing the secrets of a winning team, there is no one solution that is better than the rest. There are many different ways to achieve success and just because one path or route works for one team, it doesn’t mean that it will bring success for another. There are too many variables involved with the success or failure of a team to say what will definitely work.
However, there are definitely ways to increase the likelihood of success. It is also fair to say that if you have certain types of people, providing them with the right platform and opportunities to flourish will increase the likelihood of succeeding as a team. This means businesses can improve their chances of winning as a team, and as you would expect, the process starts with people.
No matter the task, the people in your team hold the key to success. In order to get the best out of the team, it is important to get to know them as individuals and then determine how their individual skills can be pulled together in a group environment. When it comes to analysing individuals, it is fair to say that the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) remains the best way to assess individual tendencies. Knowing the different personality types in your team provides you with the knowledge to plan ahead and to set out a way of working.

Use what you have at your disposal

Different teams will benefit from working in different ways but knowing what you have at your disposal is the starting place to creating a winning team. At the planning stage, some of the issues to consider and then agree upon include:

• Goals for the team

• Skill-set of individuals

• Identification and matching

• Role Definition

Of these four elements, the MBTI is extremely useful in the latter two elements. In the team, there will be need to choose a leader that can make decisions and will take action to drive the process forward. There will be a need to choose people that ensure communication flows effectively and confidently. There may even be a need to choose the manner of communication and reporting.

Plan properly from the start

The goals for the team and the individual skill-set of the people in the team should be defined before the project starts. However, use of the MBTI allows the individual team members to be categorised with what they can bring with respect to relationships and integrating with others. It also allows characteristics with respect to being proactive or taking responsibility to be outlined and then integrated into the workings of the team.
Once the characteristics of the team are well known and defined, it is possible to shape the working nature of the team. This allows people skills and their personalities to be used in a way that engages them and gets the best from them. There will be times when people’s skills may have to be utilised outside of their natural environment, depending on the makeup of the team, but ideally, the natural characteristics and personalities of people will be effectively harnessed in creating a team.
People who are considered to be intuitive are the ones who can visualise outcomes and have a handle on what will happen if certain decisions are taken. People who are considered to be extroverts are keen to discuss matters, making them the ideal people to ensure that everyone’s input is acknowledged. People who are Sensors are the idea people for reacting to problems that arise that need resolved quickly. People who are Thinkers have the ability to consider all options and to ensure that different opinions are given equal consideration.
Knowing which personality traits certain people have enables them to be allocated the correct roles in the team. You wouldn’t want a Sensor to be in a role where their time is taken up with administrative duties when they are needed to eliminate problems elsewhere. Similarly, while extroverts are ideal for ensuring everyone has an input, they may not be the best people to make decisions and lead the team forward.
There is no guarantee of success or failure but utilising people’s skills and characteristics will create a better platform for a team to win.