Chapter 6 – Team Types
Now that we have an understanding of the background of teams and potential strengths of individuals that can be utilized in a team environment, we can begin our exploration into what types of teams there are and how they can be best utilized.
This is important, because, just as a cricket team would certainly lose against a baseball team in a game of baseball and vice versa, this concept applies equally to the work place. The different types of teams that exist in the workplace are crucial for achieving organizational goals and maintaining organizational health. And each team has varying roles to accomplish tasks, solving problems, and drive innovation.
“People can be part of multiple teams with multiple team structures and management goals.”
This is not to say that employees cannot be on more than one team in the same workplace. Humans are quite versatile, especially when they feel respected. Businesses will always be in competition, and most leaders understand the importance of adapting in order to continually move forward. This is naturally merged with an understanding that there are basic things that are mostly static that must be achieved to maintain the existing system, while there needs to be a certain amount of research and development for the business to remain sustainable in the future.
A well-known example of managing this was Google’s implementation of the ‘20% time’ policy. Google allowed its employees to dedicate 20% of their workweek to pursue self-directed projects of their choice. This policy aimed to provide individuals with the autonomy and freedom to explore their own ideas and passions, even if unrelated to their current job responsibilities. Notably, projects such as Gmail emerged from this initiative, showcasing the potential for breakthrough innovations when employees are given dedicated time for personal exploration.
The employees’ other work hours were spent on existing projects that were either already bringing income into the company, or projects that had been signed off by upper management in the hope that they would become profitable in the future.
We are not advocating that all companies should follow this same formula, but for Google, through combining these two concepts, they were able to create an environment that embraces both structured teamwork and individual autonomy. This balance also helped to foster a culture of collaboration, empowerment, and continuous improvement.
So following this example, we have categorized teams into two broad groups: Project Teams and Self-managed Teams. Each of which are then delineated into sub-teams.
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