One of the things I was taught was that when leading/managing a team, the six things (in order of importance) you should focus on for ensuring a high performing satisfied team are:<p>1. Clarity - ensure your team understands the end goal and what they are trying to achieve<p>2. Standards - ensure standards are set (standard for quality of work, behaviour etc)<p>3. Responsibility - give employees responsibility, trust and hold them accountable for their actions<p>4. Flexibility - give employees control over their work day, don't spoonfeed or straitjacket them<p>5. Recognition & Rewards - positive feedback etc<p>6. Teaming - ensure a team spirit is developed<p>As someone who has managed technial teams from 4 to 90 people, I've found these 6 factors are a pretty good guide. Most people focus on #5 and #6 when discussing how to have a productive team, but you seldom see #1 to #4 mentioned - they may be self-evident, but I've seen more teams suffer from the first four factors being absent or neglected than not.