A fully functioning team isn’t afraid to take action. Its members hold themselves personally and collectively responsible for behavior and results. They deal with conflict openly instead of shoving it under the rug. And they have enough trust in each other to focus on the job at hand. Bring out your team’s strengths with these strategies:

• Gain commitment. Teams with an overpowering desire for consensus or certainty can easily become passive. Guard against these traps by listening to everyone’s ideas and discussing worst-case scenarios and contingency plans up front. But don’t be afraid to declare a decision deadline and then stick to it.  
• Increase accountability. Write and distribute specific goals that the team must achieve. Make sure you identify who needs to deliver what and keep track of progress publicly. 
• Channel conflict. If team members don’t have a constructive outlet for inevitable disputes, they may become overly focused on backbiting and politics. Bring buried disagreements into the open by leading frank group discussions. Interrupt the debate only if it veers off topic.
• Focus on results. Tie team rewards to achievement of specific goals. This promotes solidarity and puts the pressure on everyone to contribute.
• Build trust. Encourage esprit de corps by increasing a sense of empathy and understanding. Start with a “personal histories” exercise. During a meeting, have team members go around the table and answer a short list of questions about their backgrounds: number of siblings, hometown, unique challenges of childhood, favorite hobbies, first job, etc.