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If you are given the opportunity to pick people for your team, then you need to take care in choosing people who will not only have the technical competence to do the job but who will also work harmoniously with their colleagues and you.

• Recruit for harmony. You will actually need to consider how similar you want your team members to be to each other (or you!). Whilst there are benefits in getting people of the same mindset as each other, there are also tensions associated with having too many similarities between team members. For example, a team of 26 people who are all articulate, self-confident, ambitious, imaginative and highly motivated to be in the limelight can rapidly descend into a squabbling bunch of pushy people competing with one another to get promoted!

case study I was contracted to recruit a training specialist for a UK company. The initial request asked for candidates to be female graduates aged between 28 and 35 on the grounds that the team members were all female, all graduates aged under 33 and the team manager herself was 36. However, I put forward a shortlist that included a 42-year-old male ex-soldier who fulfilled all other criteria for the post. At interview he demonstrated a maturity and outlook different to the others in the team, and the company realized that he would provide a new perspective. He was recruited and quickly became a successful team member.

• Think about strengths and weaknesses. Within a perfect team there is a balancing act between individuals who get on together and individuals who bring specific strengths to the team. For example, on a football team you need to have a goalkeeper, some defenders, midfielders and strikers. You also need a balance of players who are good in the wet and some in the dry; some who play well when you are winning and some who shine when you are in trouble; some passionate players and some who are calm and methodical.

• Think about the environment. In a car sales environment, for example, you might want people who are self motivated, use their initiative, take calculated risks and solve their own problems. If you are building a team to run a nuclear power station then you probably want a mix of methodical, exacting, analytical and risk-averse people.

• Take inspiration from other teams. Many famous teams are made up of complementary characters. Think about the Magnificent Seven (gunfighters in the film), Wallace and Gromit (man and dog in animation series), Laurel and Hardy (comedy duo), the Dirty Dozen (assassins in the film), Hillary and Tenzing (real-life conquerors of Mount Everest), and even the ‘A’ Team (fugitive heroes in TV series).

Recruit great people to accomplish great things.