If you work in a business environment, chances are you will have to take part in a team effort at some point in your career. You may even find yourself as the leader of a team, in which case you will need to cultivate some valuable skills in order to lead effectively. These skills will help create a cohesive, creative group with a high success rate. Here are the top five tips for becoming a successful team leader.

Establish Authority

While it may be tempting to be seen as "one of the guys", this is not the best way to be a successful leader. As a leader, you need to make sure your authority is never in doubt and that you have the ability to guide the group. At the same time, it's important not to come across as a dictator, and someone who is out of touch with the rest of the team. Take a look at what your group needs from you in order to find a balance between making everyone comfortable while also keeping them on their toes so that they work as efficiently as possible.

Involve Employees

Your role as a leader is to make sure the group feels like they're contributing to something bigger than themselves. Part of this includes involving your team in the decision making process. Guide them, but also give them an outlet for their thoughts and ideas while giving them feedback. By getting them involved in setting goals and objectives, you are making it easier for them to feel like they are making an important contribution to the team.

Communicate Effectively

Good communication is one of the most important traits to have as an effective team leader. It is very important to clearly and routinely communicate to the team regarding the goals and vision of the team objectives. There should never be any doubt about what each member should be doing, the timeframe for achieving certain projects or the process of achieving the goals themselves. Good communication also involves listening to what your employees have to say, so if there is ever a problem you can tackle it right away instead of letting it slide until it's too late.

Encourage Unity

The idea of having a team of employees work on a project is that it makes the work go much faster and more efficiently than if each person worked on their own. Because of this, the unity of the team is incredibly important. As a leader, you must work to create symbiosis and synergy within the team. Each person should have a role that is important and vital to the success of the team as a whole in order to motivate them and make them feel like a valued member.

Keep Moving Forward

No matter how great your team is, there will likely be a time that you run into problems. As a leader, it's necessary for you to evaluate what went wrong, make the necessary changes and then start looking forward again. You will need to motivate the team to keep them on track and keep them from getting discouraged.