Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

What makes a team work can feel like a mystery.

While you can’t guarantee success, you can give your team a better chance by being sure it has the following:

1. A common purpose. Most teams form as a result of an outside mandate. To work together effectively, team members need to rally around a meaningful purpose they’ve embraced as their own.

2. A mix of complementary skills. It’s dangerous for everyone on a team to have the same skills and perspective. Look for people with varying technical and functional expertise who bring different approaches to problem-solving and decision-making.

3. Mutual accountability. You cannot coerce commitment. The process of agreeing on a goal together will forge trust and build the team’s accountability to one another.

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “Guide to Project Management.”

To check it out and join the discussion, please click here.