The best team brands are those that are recognised by customers, peers and even competitors for the value that they add in the workplace.

Team Brand Attributes

Strong team brands share certain attributes. Here are four things to look out for in seeking to build an effective team brand:

1. Great teams recognise their strengths and establish themselves as experts in their field. Successful team brands understand the competitive landscape in which they operate, as well as knowing what sets them apart from their competitors and how to use these strengths. Each member of the team understands the role he or she plays and how that contributes to value that the whole team adds.
2. Effective team brands are made up of great brand ambassadors. Successful teams recognise that each person is an ambassador for the company. The team together ensures that each member has the training and education necessary to represent the brand effectively.
3. Successful teams understand that visibility is as important as ability. They focus both on doing their job brilliantly and marketing what they’re doing. They understand that they need to constantly demonstrate the value they add to build credibility and cement their brand positioning. There are many different ways of doing this, whether it’s being active in social media, developing case studies or bringing new ideas to the board of directors.
4. Successful team brands understand exactly how they deliver value. Great team brands grasp that they not only need to deliver a product or service that that works, but they must also be able to demonstrate ROI to their clients and then top that with even more value by making customers feel special at every touch point. They don’t use a once-size-fits-all approach, but focus on understanding their clients and marketing to them as individuals to ensure they are relevant to each client.

I believe that team branding will become a key business issue in the future. Read about other trends currently shaping the workplace.