What do we even mean when we use the word ‘Team’ as a description in business?

It’s such a short word, isn’t it, hiding a complexity within its brevity?

If we want to lead teams, we had better be sure we start with understanding what ‘Team’ means. There are many definitions, some of which go into a huge amount of detail and depth, but one of the best is from John Katzenbach (1994), who saw the following characteristics.

“A small number of people with complementary skills, who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach, for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”

Katzenbach’s definition contains some key boundaries.

First, there is a size limitation, or at least an implied differentiation between ‘Teams’ and larger ‘Groups’ regarding their ability to interact effectively. Large groups may share an interest that delineates membership (e.g. the fans of an international football team). They may also be able to coordinate (e.g. chanting from the terraces), but the size of the group imposes limitations on how complex or coordinated this interaction may become. Good teams are different.

Complementary skills are key to leveraging cooperation and helping individual team members address the team’s tasks. A common purpose provides and delineates the direction being actively taken. Again, these characteristics allow us to separate ‘Teams’ from individuals or groups. The goals and purpose of the team are shared and are the priority for each member over and above their own. This supportive, direction-specific dynamic for ongoing interaction is missing from more loosely coordinated groups.

The sharing of a common approach and clarity about accountability further help us to understand how teams are distinct entities. For example, a great business team understands how it will work and manage itself as it accomplishes its tasks; the members move along the same track in the same way and hold themselves individually and collectively responsible for the team’s output.

Why would this result in greater output or higher performance?

Whilst there are differences between the business and sports teams, often, a sporting analogy cuts through the fog like this one from Yves Morieux (2014). Consider a 4x100 meter relay race; Morieux states that it is not always the team with the fastest individual sprinters that triumphs. Each runner must also pass and receive the baton. In doing so, they sacrifice and divert effort towards this exchange to the detriment of their individual sprinting performance. They actively interact, communicate, and cooperate to optimise their team’s performance and achieve a better-shared outcome: winning against faster opposition.

This is the power of an effective team. (This also highlights a potential weakness of the team that we will return to in a later blog: how do you quantify the value added by working as a team, in our racing example, how would you measure the cooperation benefit displayed by each individual?)

What other benefits can teams can offer?

Plenty, but to highlight a few often-overlooked benefits, let’s think about the social aspect that teams offer.

We are all emotional and social beings; great teams recognise this and act as a framework supporting members’ needs and well-being and promoting a sense of belonging. A well-led business team allows its members to feel safe in speaking up, failing, exercising autonomy, learning and being able to rely on the support of other members. This mutuality aspect supports team members as they strive to do good work, not just on their own behalf but on behalf of others. Well-led teams are motivational places to work within and encourage team members to develop and unlock their personal potential as a function of helping the team to reach its shared goals.

Finally, being part of a well-functioning business team is, I would contend, way more fun than solo achievement; sharing the experience multiplies our enjoyment. That’s not a bad place to end this blog. Great leaders lead great teams to higher performance, making work more enjoyable and fun. What’s not to like?

References

Clutterbuck, D (2020) Coaching the team at work,

Katzenbach, J (1994) The wisdom of teams:creating the high-perfomance organsiation,

Morieux, Y (2014) Six simple rules