The group must have a clear goal. Avoid fuzzy, motherhood statements. group goals should call for a specific performance objective, expressed so concisely that everyone knows when the objective has been met.
The group must have competent team members. In the education setting this can be take to mean that the problem given to the team should be one that the members can tackle given their level of knowledge.
The group must have unified commitment. This doesn't mean that team members must agree on everything. It means that all individuals must be directing their efforts towards the goal. If an individual's efforts is going purely towards personal goals, then the team will confront this and resolve the problem.
Attitudes Level 1: Basic | Level 2: Intermediate | Level 3: Advanced | Level 4: Expert | Participates in activities for self-improvement | Works to continuously improve himself or herself | Is personally committed to continually improving himself or herself and rigorously pursues multiple means to do so | Is dedicated to continuous learning and self-improvement, and aggressively undertakes activities to enrich intellect, to build new skills, and to hone existing skills | Recognizes the need to develop personal, interpersonal, or managerial behavior | Works to deploy strengths, compensating for weaknesses and limits | Readily gets involved in activities that will challenge and stretch current skills and intellectual prowess | Continually expends his or her talents and gifts to the fullest, participating in a variety of events and pursuits designed to build on strengths | Is aware that different skills and approaches are required for various situations | Picks up on the need to change personal, interpersonal, or managerial behavior quickly | Actively seeks feedback from others to determine areas in which he or she can best improve | Earnestly garners feedback, and acts upon it to improve perceived weaknesses and limitations and to build