Team negotiations can often be more productive than solo business negotiations, as we’ve discussed before on Negotiating Space. But, as any manager knows, building up a good, cohesive negotiation team is not always easy.

First things first: team leaders must select people whom they respect. If you don’t feel good about who is on your side, you will find it very hard to win.

Negotiating team members bring different strengths to the negotiation table, which is why you should look for diverse backgrounds and talents. If a team is completely homogeneous –everyone is a salesperson for example—then you will lose a competitive advantage over the other party. The more knowledge you have on your side, the better.

Managers will need to work to motivate their team members and also to build loyalty. A non-cohesive, non-motivated team could spell major trouble in a negotiation. On BNet.com, Richard Leyland wrote the article 7 Ways to Build a Loyal Team. Read the whole article here, but we particularly like the seventh way that Leyland advocates:

“Put employees into the bigger picture.

This should be something every manager thinks about from recruitment onwards. Employees look to team leaders to remind them why their work is important in the big picture, and to create excitement about what the company is doing.”

Good teams are primed to win because a group effort has so much power. As the famous football coach Vince Lombardi said:

“Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

What do you do to build up your team?