Benefits of Effective Teams:
• Increased productivity
• Improved communication
• Better use of resources
• Increased creativity and efficiency in problem solving
• Higher quality decisions made and implemented
• Increased satisfaction and performance of individuals

Characteristics of Productive Teams:
• Team members understand the goals and direction and are committed to it, members share and shift responsibilities
• Team climate is comfortable and informal, people feel empowered, competitiveness is inappropriate
• Communication is spontaneous and shared, diversity of opinions is encouraged
• Respect, collaboration and open mindedness are high, members seek win-win
• Trust is high, people take risks
• Conflicts and differences of opinion are seen as opportunities to explore new ideas, emphasis is on finding common ground
• The team works to improve itself continuously with processes, practices
• Decisions are made by consensus and have acceptance and support of team members.