Although 80% of all administrative decisions are made at the department level, many community college department chairs accept their positions without a clear understanding of the demands or training in leadership skills. It is critical to a productive department, however, that chairs possess the leadership skills to shape their departments into academic teams. Developing a team attitude requires passion, commitment and continuing communication with faculty and staff. Specifically, research shows that a collective team climate requires the following characteristics: (1) clearly stated and agreed upon long-term goals; (2) actively involved team members and shared management authority; (3) openly shared information with participative decision-making; (4) a constructive approach to resolving conflict with attention to individual interests; and (5) top priority attention to individual growth and self-development. Rather than doing everything for the department, effective team leaders share management activities by providing direction, strengthening relationships, and encouraging mutual respect. In addition, faculty members should be encouraged to excel in scholarly endeavors at their own initiative, while support staff should be challenged to set their individual goals in line with departmental goals. Chairs should establish an open climate of shared information where conflict leads to collaborative solutions. (Includes a table and graph of the five characteristics of effective departments.) (KP)