Teamwork is key, but it does not happen automatically. Keeping a business team running smoothly can be challenging, especially when budgets are lean and expectations are high. Every team leader needs to figure out the best way to lead and motivate, but a few baseline principles will keep you pointed down the right path. To create a functional team that is reliable and committed to delivering the goods, the leader has to exhibit these traits:

Know Your Role:

While you may be the leader of the group, your primary concern must be the group itself. Even if you are a hands-on leader, remember you are also there to coach, evaluate, and mentor. Make time to attend to each of these areas regularly.

Understand the Value of Your team:

A team leader cannot accomplish the team's objectives by him/herself, so work hard to help your team`s job. Remove obstacles, work through glitches, and fight for the resources your employees need to achieve their goals and objectives. As a leader, you must place value on each member of your team. Respect their uniqueness, traits, and individual psychological make-up. Never, for a moment should a team leader undermine the personal and intellectual capacity of a member, in the discharge of their duties.

Keep Fairness in Mind:

A good team leader has to avoid putting his /her ambition above that of the team because other team members can do things that will be counterproductive. Team leaders make unpopular decisions from time-to-time, but he/she will retain his/her team's respect if he/she is fair-minded.

Treat Your Employees Like Adults:

Few things undermine respect and enthusiasm in teams, such as criticism, nepotism, favoritism, or bullying. Allow team members the opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions on sensitive and important matters concerning the business in meetings, give them the benefit of the doubt, and never lose sight of their potentials and individual career goals. Do not foist ideas, suggestions down the throat of team members, open up to suggestions and alternative opinions. Be a team player, not

Know That You Aren't an Expert in Everything:

In every work environment, teams are made up of members with diverse expertise and backgrounds, do not try to undermine any team member`s opinion. Successful teams combine each member's specific talents into a high-performing whole. Egos in teams, if not managed only undermine team effort.

Be transparent and Honest:

The decision-making process, tendering process, must be carried out publicly with the foreknowledge of every team member. All arguments for and against any proposals, decisions must be made public and remain publicly archived. Transparency engenders` accountability.

Keep a Positive Mindset:

Great team leaders keep a positive mindset by accepting complete responsibility of the whole group for everything that went awry. They refuse to criticize, complain, or blame others for anything.

Optimistic enthusiast:

The most important quality a team leader can develop and must possess for personal and professional success and happiness is optimism. Terrific leaders look for the good in every situation, no matter what goes wrong. Leaders see setbacks, not as an obstruction but instruction, and they seek to learn valuable lessons in every setback. Additionally, optimistic leaders, look for solutions to every setback. Moreover, optimist, continually think, and talk about their goals, they always look forward rather than backward.

Take It One Step at a Time:

Difficult tasks are accomplished in personal, business, and professional life by discipline and taking them just one-step at a time. In accomplishing a great task, one must step out in faith and have complete confidence that your next step will become clear. Remember- Leap and the net will appear!

Monitoring and Reporting Progress:

With a lean budget and high expectation, great team leaders continuously measure their processes and activities that help them achieve their set objectives and goals. This will ensure the team is not deviating, and that the processes are best, and the goals are not far from reach. The result of every business process is to pass judgment about the project or program, make adjustments to improve its effectiveness, and to inform decision-making.