Having an effective team is essential for building a successful practice. You can leverage the collective expertise of your team to achieve the goals of your practice.

“Good teams are comprised of members with complementary skill sets and experiences which enable them to achieve goals that cannot be achieved individually,” says George J. Karkoulas, president, private client group at Hampton Securities in Toronto. This makes it important for you to make sure that you have the right of people, with the right skills, on your team. Adds Karkoulas: “Building a good team just doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time to put together.”

Here are five elements of an effective team.

1. Have a common purpose
Karkoulas says that a good team must have a common purpose or goal, which must be clearly understood by all team members. As the team leader, you must provide direction and establish your expectations. Each team member must have a sense of engagement and take ownership of their specific roles. If there is any misunderstanding of roles and responsibilities, Karkoulas recommends involving all members in an open and frank discussion to facilitate clarity and promote inclusiveness. The rules of engagement must be established at the outset.

2. Promote shared values
Teamwork is all about having shared values, advises Karkoulas. There is strength in unity. He says members must respect each other’s skills and expertise and “draw on each other’s strengths.” They must also be open-minded during discussions and be constructive rather than critical. Shared values motivate team members to perform and allow them to leverage the experience of their colleagues. Most important, says Karkoulas, the focus of the team should be on the “end result of working together” —not on individual performance.

3. Enable independence
As the leader of the team, you should provide support and guidance, as well as the tools for your team to function effectively, suggest Karkoulas. And while you must be available to your team at all times, you should allow team members to operate independently and be responsible for meeting their objectives. “Members can become frustrated with being watched over,” he says. After all, you have chosen the team members and delegated responsibility to them: you can’t be looking over their shoulders all the time.

4. Ensure mutual accountability
Team members must have mutual accountability to themselves as well as their leader. As with all teams, members have complementary skills and experience which must be collectively used to accomplish the team’s goals. Karkoulas says that members must respect each other’s views and contributions and must be able to sort out their differences when working toward a common goal. In addition, he says, they must be able to follow through on their responsibilities and commitments and be accountable to each other for any shortcomings. At the end of the day, the team must be accountable to its leader.

5. Recognize success
“You must always be willing to recognize and celebrate success,” says Karkoulas. Recognition should be for teamwork. Individuals on a team should only be singled out for recognition if the team collectively chooses to do so. Celebrating success is a great motivational experience which is often ignored, Karkoulas says.

See: How to structure a financial advisory team

See: How to lead an effective team

See: How to motivate your team