A strong team makes an impact on everyone around it. Think about the Atlanta Braves' "worst to first" season in 1991. Having the hometown team in the World Series was electrifying for Atlanta. When the "miracle," U.S. ice hockey team took the gold medal in the 1980 Olympics, the entire nation celebrated.

What would it mean to have a team like that at work? OK, there are no gold medals for IT-system implementation, and even top sales teams rarely get ticker-tape parades, but a high-performing work team is definitely a win in today's business environment.

LEITA COWART/Special (ENLARGE)

Kimberly Douglas is president of FireFly Facilitation Inc., which specializes in team development. She helps work teams determine how individual members think and teaches them to view conflicts as opportunities to communicate and improve.

Special (ENLARGE)

'You have to look at the strengths that you do have and those you can develop to achieve your goals.'- Mary Pike, President, Inside Job Inc.

LEITA COWART/Special (ENLARGE)

Certified business coach Martha Carnahan helps teams measure what they're doing well and develop strategies to address weak points.

"A strong team is a competitive advantage for a company, because people don't leave a great team unless push comes to shove. We all know how hard they are to find," said Kimberly Douglas, president of FireFly Facilitation Inc., an Atlanta-based management consulting firm that specializes in leadership, team development and strategic planning.

Companies know that great teams can improve employee satisfaction, productivity and retention as well as the bottom line.

In 2004-05, the Center for Creative Leadership surveyed 118 executives and middle managers to compile "The State of Teams" report. It found that 95 percent of respondents participated on more than one work team; that 91 percent thought teams were central to the organization's success; and that 80 percent thought leaders needed help building strong teams and keeping teams on track toward exceeding expectations.

The help often comes from outside coaches, who can bring new insights and skills to the table.

"Creating a strong team is a process, not a one-time event," said Martha Carnahan, president of Atlanta-based mc3 strategies and a certified business and life coach. She is co-president of the Georgia Coach Association.

A good coach raises awareness, helps members develop their professional skills and encourages people to practice better strategies for teamwork within their company cultures to achieve real results.

Mary Pike, president of Inside Job Inc., a leadership development firm in Atlanta, often starts by teaching clients about the "Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing" model of group development that Bruce Tuckman first proposed in 1965. It's the accepted model in the field, and it helps teams to know where they are in the process.

The phases are necessary for a team to grow, tackle problems, find solutions, plan work and deliver results, said Joy McCarthy, a coach with Inside Job Inc.

"When a team is in the 'forming' phase, people get to know each other and build interpersonal relationships. The outcome of this phase should be trust," Pike said.

Issues of control and hidden agendas happen in the "storming" phase. Storming eventually achieves clarification in who does what and how things will work.

In the "norming" phase, people are comfortable working together. Everyone understands the strategy and is channeling his or her energy toward results. There is consensus on the purpose of the group.

"Groups that are performing are confident of their strengths and weaknesses," Pike said. "They've got each other's backs and are acting as a unit, and the result is accomplishment."

People usually remember being part of a great team and the excitement they felt. Because team goals and members change, however, the progression of phases is fluid, rather than linear. A new leader can send a "norming" group back to "forming" or "storming."

There are many types of teams, Pike said. For example, in a tennis doubles team, both players are doing essentially the same thing in different positions. A NASCAR team serves as support for a superstar. On a basketball team or in a symphony orchestra, each person performs his or her own function.

"A sales team that is individually rewarded is much like a golf team, with each person playing against himself," Pike said. "I ask people, what kind of team do they need to be to accomplish what they need to do?"

A winning team doesn't have to agree on everything. Picture the staff of a hospital emergency room. Individual members have different jobs and may not always get along, but, when someone's critically injured, they put aside their differences to save a life, she said.

There is no magic formula for forming the perfect team, because people aren't perfect, Pike said.

"You have to start with the clay you're handed and get past whose fault it is [that things aren't going well]," she said. "You have to look at the strengths that you do have and those you can develop to achieve your goals."

To succeed, a team needs to function as a unit and be committed to a common vision or goal. It needs structure — the strategies and processes it will use to accomplish its purpose. And it needs to know its people — the collective strengths and weaknesses of its individual members, Pike said.

Getting to know you

A level of trust is a key differentiator of a great team, said Douglas, who has coached hundreds of teams in the last 10 years.

"Great teams know how to value each other's differences," she said. "It's about seeing and appreciating that each member is unique."

Douglas may use the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument to introduce members to diverse thought processes and communication styles. Knowing who is analytical or who is a people person helps when it comes to assigning responsibilities and seeing someone else's point of view.

To help team members capitalize on their time together — another critical factor in a strong team — "I do an exercise where I ask the individuals whose style is more analytical, organizational, interpersonal or future-oriented to go to separate corners and plan an ideal staff meeting. I tell them to plan as if only people like them were coming, and don't worry about making extreme suggestions," Douglas said.

The analytical group may suggest more graphs and charts and using instant messaging for questions and answers. The organizational group wants to follow a definite agenda, with strict time limits. The interpersonal group wants a potluck, with everyone sharing a story, while the future-oriented group wants no time limits and more visionary discussion.

"Everyone has a good laugh, but then they begin to see the good ideas that can come from a diversity of thought. They decide maybe they do need an agenda, more metrics to measure results, a fun activity to get to know one another better, or some brainstorming about industry trends," Douglas said. "Team meetings should be the most exciting time of the week. It shouldn't just be a series of report-outs."

Agree to disagree

Teams that are communicating and deciding, and not just reporting updates on projects to one another, have learned to "view conflict as creative abrasion," Douglas said. "When you can't bring differences out into the open, those feelings go underground and fester."

She helps groups lay down ground rules for resolving conflicts in a positive way, such as "be hard on the issue, not on the person." By giving everyone a chance to have his or her say, members may find a better way to work.

"Really strong conflict can lead to great commitment," Douglas said.

"Conflict is a gift, because it facilitates change," Carnahan said. "A strong team has to learn how to deal with conflict. Blaming, defensiveness, stonewalling [refusing to talk about something] or an attitude of contempt are obstacles to a healthy dialogue, which can move things forward."

Strengths, weaknesses

Carnahan uses the Team Diagnostic Assessment model, developed by Team Coaching International, with her clients. The tool measures seven productivity strengths (team leadership; goals and strategies; alignment; accountability; resources; decision-making; and proactivity) and seven positivity strengths (trust, respect, camaraderie, communication, constructive interaction, value of diversity and optimism) — traits needed for high-performing, sustainable and inspired teams.

"We treat the team as a unit, and every member is equal, including the leader," Carnahan said.

She begins by having every member complete an online assessment of the team. She then generates a report that shows how the team rates itself in terms of productivity and positivity strengths.

During a two-day briefing that includes activities and skills teaching, Carnahan and a co-facilitator (to model being part of a team) explain the report.

"In this phase, we're revealing the team's system to itself and looking at where it is on the map, in terms of productivity and positivity," she said.

She teaches appropriate skills and facilitates discussions about ways to strengthen areas that need improvement. She meets with the team monthly for at least six months to see how the strategies are working and what adjustments the team wants to make. Between meetings, the team members practice their new skills with greater awareness.

The process helps people learn to be more authentic and honest, to deal with conflict and to build trust. While a team can be stronger than its members, "it should work together to honor the individual gifts and talents of everyone," she said.

Carnahan often sees dramatic changes in how people relate to one another and in their team results.

"We facilitate and let them do the work," she said. "The team has a chance to flex its wings and come up with its own style."