1.6: Working in Teams
Types of Teams
Teams are a critical aspect of business. A team is a group of people with certain skills who share a common purpose, approach, and performance goals. All team members hold themselves responsible and accountable for reaching the team’s objectives. Teams are widely used in business and in many not-for-profit organizations, such as hospitals and government agencies. Teams are one of the most frequently discussed topics in employee training programs, because they require that people learn how to work well together. Figure 1.2 shows the five common types of teams: Problem-solving teams, self-managed teams, cross-functional teams, virtual teams, and work teams.
Team Stages
Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing
Watch the YouTube video below, “Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing: Bruce Tuckman’s Team Stages Model Explained,” to learn the stages a team goes through when starting a new project.
Transcript for “Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing: Bruce Tuckman’s Team Stages Model Explained” video [PDF–New Tab]. Closed captioning is available on YouTube.
Source: MindToolsVideos. (2014, November 10). Forming, storming, norming, and performing: Bruce Tuckman’s team stages model explained. [Video]. YouTube.
Team Roles
Team roles can be divided into two categories, task-facilitating roles and relationship-building roles. Table 1.1 provides a summary of the two categories of team roles.
| Task-facilitating roles | Example | Relationship-building roles | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direction giving | “Jot down a few ideas and we’ll see what everyone has come up with.” | Supporting | “Now, that’s what I mean by a practical application.” |
| Information seeking | “Does anyone know if this is the latest data we have?” | Harmonizing | “Actually, I think you’re both saying pretty much the same thing.” |
| Information giving | “Here are the latest numbers from …” | Tension relieving | “Before we go on, would anyone like a drink?” |
| Elaborating | “I think a good example of what you’re talking about is …” | Confronting | “How does that suggestion relate to the topic that we’re discussing?” |
| Urging | “Let’s try to finish this proposal before we adjourn.” | Energizing | “It’s been a long time since I’ve had this many laughs at a meeting in this department.” |
| Monitoring | “If you’ll take care of the first section, I’ll make sure that we have the second by next week.” | Developing | “If you need some help pulling the data together, let me know.” |
| Process analyzing | “What happened to the energy level in this room?” | Consensus building | “Do we agree on the first four points even if number five needs a little more work?” |
| Reality testing | “Can we make this work and stay within budget?” | Empathizing | “It’s not you. The numbers are confusing.” |
| Enforcing | “We’re getting off track. Let’s try to stay on topic.” | Summarizing | “Before we jump ahead, here’s what we’ve decided so far.” |
Task-Facilitating Roles
Task-facilitating roles help the team accomplish goals. These roles include not only providing information when someone else needs it but also asking for it when you need it. In addition, these roles include monitoring (checking on progress) and enforcing (making sure that team decisions are carried out). Task facilitators are especially valuable when assignments aren’t clear or when progress is too slow.
Relationship-Building Roles
Relationship-building roles help team members understand their roles, support them in their roles, and maintain or improve group cohesiveness. These types of roles include activities that improve team “chemistry,” from empathizing to confronting. Bear in mind three points about this model: (1) Teams are most effective when there’s a good balance between task facilitation and relationship-building; (2) it’s hard for any given member to perform both types of roles, as some people are better at focusing on tasks and others on relationships; and (3) overplaying any facet of any role can easily become counterproductive. For example, elaborating on something may not be the best strategy when the team needs to make a quick decision, and consensus building may cause the team to overlook an important difference of opinion.
Self-Check Exercise: Blocking Roles
So-called blocking roles consist of behaviour that inhibits either team performance or that of individual members. Every member of the team should know how to recognize blocking behaviour. If teams don’t confront dysfunctional members, they can destroy morale, hamper consensus building, create conflict, and hinder progress. Demonstrate what you know about blocking behaviours by dragging the words to match with each description.
Seven Characteristics of Effective Teams
Effective teams share the following characteristics:[1]
- Clear leadership. Successful teams usually have effective leadership, where one or several members act as team leaders. This helps unify the entire team so that they can work toward the same goals. Effective leaders often provide guidance, motivation and focus.
- Defined goals. Before working on their tasks, an effective team may first establish their goals. The team might work together to identify common objectives that align with a company’s organizational goals.
- Assigned roles. When each team member has an assigned role, they can make effective contributions to their group and help ensure its success. A team’s role might change throughout the lifetime of a project. Effective teams often reevaluate roles once the team is assembled to ensure each member can fulfill the expectations of their roles.
- Open communication. A team with open communication allows members to discuss their ideas and feel that their input matters. Successful teams often welcome diverse thoughts and opinions that help them solve problems and complete tasks in creative ways. Effective communication also involves active listening, where members make a conscious effort to hear their teammates’ ideas and reflect before responding to them.
- Collaboration. Team members may collaborate continuously throughout a project’s lifetime to ensure they’re working on the right tasks and contributing to the planned outcomes. Collaborative work helps encourage innovation through the exchange of ideas and the collective expertise of a team.
- Trust. Trust contributes to open communication, problem solving and collaboration. A successful team might rely on team-building exercises to increase trust between its members.
- Conflict resolution. Successful teams usually have effective methods for resolving any conflicts that may arise. During a disagreement, members may speak to one another calmly, respect each other’s ideas and focus on finding a compromise. Effective teams often view disputes as a way to improve their decision-making and problem-solving strategies.
Class Team Projects
Throughout your studies, you will be exposed to teams and teamwork concepts and be required to complete projects by collaborating with your peers in teams. You will want to consider how to make your class team-based projects as successful as possible. To get insider advice on how to succeed on team projects in college, let’s look at some suggestions offered by students who have gone through this experience.[2]
- Draw up a team charter. At the beginning of the project, draw up a team charter that includes the goals of the group, ways to ensure that each team member’s ideas are considered, and the timing and frequency of meetings. See Figure 1.3 for a sample team charter. A more informal way to arrive at a team charter is to simply set some ground rules to which everyone agrees. Your instructor may also require you to sign an existing team contract or charter similar to the one below.
- Contribute your ideas. Share your ideas with your group. The worst that could happen is that they won’t be used (which is what would happen if you kept quiet).
- Never miss a meeting or deadline. Pick a weekly meeting time and write it into your schedule as if it were a class. Never skip it.
- Be considerate of each other. Be patient, listen to everyone, involve everyone in decision making, avoid infighting, build trust.
- Create a process for resolving conflict. Do so before conflict arises. Set up rules to help the group decide how conflict will be handled.
- Use the strengths of each team member. All students bring different strengths. Utilize the unique value of each person.
- Don’t do all the work yourself. Work with your team to get the work done. The project output is often less important than the experience.
Team Charter for a Marketing Presentation Assignment
Team Name: The Market Mavericks
Team Members:
- Roozbeh Nuri
- Remi Roy
- Kiran Patel
- Huan Li
Project Overview:
Our team will create a marketing presentation for a new product launch. The presentation will include market analysis, target audience identification, marketing strategies, and a promotional plan.
Team Goals:
- Quality: Deliver a high-quality presentation that meets or exceeds the assignment criteria.
- Timeliness: Complete all tasks and submit the presentation by the deadline.
- Collaboration: Work effectively as a team, leveraging each member’s strengths.
- Learning: Gain a deeper understanding of marketing principles and presentation skills.
Roles and Responsibilities:
- Roozbeh Nuri (Team Leader): Coordinate team meetings, ensure tasks are on track, and compile the final presentation.
- Remi Roy (Research Analyst): Conduct market research and gather data on the target audience and competitors.
- Kiran Patel (Content Developer): Develop the content for the presentation, including the marketing strategies and promotional plan.
- Huan Li (Designer): Create the visual elements of the presentation, including slides, graphics, and any multimedia components.
Meeting Schedule:
- Weekly Meetings: Every Monday at 4:00 p.m.
- Check-ins: Quick check-ins via group chat every Wednesday and Friday
Communication Plan:
- Primary Communication: Group chat on a messaging app (e.g., WhatsApp)
- Secondary Communication: Email for sharing documents and formal updates
- File Sharing: Use a shared folder on Google Drive for all project-related files
Decision-Making Process:
- Consensus: Decisions will be made by consensus whenever possible.
- Voting: If consensus cannot be reached, decisions will be made by majority vote.
Conflict Resolution:
- Open Communication: Address conflicts openly and respectfully during team meetings.
- Mediation: If conflicts cannot be resolved within the team, seek assistance from the course instructor.
Milestones and Deadlines:
- Market Research Completed: February 21
- Content Development Completed: February 28
- Design and Visuals Completed: March 7
- Final Review and Revisions: March 10
- Presentation Submission: March 14
Team Norms:
- Respect: Treat all team members with respect and value their contributions.
- Responsibility: Complete assigned tasks on time and to the best of your ability.
- Participation: Actively participate in meetings and discussions.
- Support: Help team members when needed and provide constructive feedback.
This team charter outlines the structure, goals, and expectations for the team, helping ensure a smooth and productive collaboration.
Artificial Intelligence Disclosure: The Team Charter was created with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot, an AI-based tool designed to generate text based on user inputs. In accordance with the current guidance from Creative Commons, the content created using Generative AI tools is shared under a CC1.0 Universal Deed.
Figure 1.3: A Sample Team Charter
Self-Check Exercise: Team Contract
In many of your courses, you will be working in teams during school time as well as outside formal class time. A team contract or charter is important to ensure all members have input on how the team will work together. This charter or contract can also be referenced if a team member is not working to expectations. Figure 1.3 shows a sample charter for a marketing assignment.
Consider Figure 1.3 and then attempt the following activity, which is encouraged to help you and your team think through and agree on how you will operate. As a team, discuss each of the items listed in this template and fill in the blanks to generate a basic team charter or contract as a document.
Media Attributions
Table 1.1 is reused from Figure 1.8 in Chapter 1 Teamwork in Business of Fundamentals of Business, 4th edition by Ron Poff, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Figure 1.8 is based on information from Whetten & Cameron (2007). Developing management skills, 7th ed. Pearson Education. pp. 517, 519.
“Figure 1.2: Five Types of Teams: Problem-solving, self-managed, cross-functional, virtual, work teams” is adapted from Chapter 2: Business Concepts and Teamwork in Business Fundamentals, 1st Edition, © Kerri Sheilds, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.
Image Descriptions
Figure 1.2
A row of five colored rectangles, each showing a different type of team.
- Dark blue square – “Problem-Solving Teams: Teams of knowledge workers who solve specific problems”
- Orange square – “Self-Managed Teams: Teams that are empowered to decide how they complete tasks”
- Green square – “Cross-Functional Teams: Teams that are made up of members from different functional areas of the firm”
- Purple square – “Virtual Teams: Teams of co-workers or others who use technology to communicate and work together”
- Light blue square – “Work Teams: Teams that do the daily work, and when empowered are self-managed teams”
- Indeed Editorial Team. (2024, August 15). 7 characteristics of effective teams (with benefits & tips). Indeed. ↵
- Feenstra, K. (n.d.). Study skills: Teamwork skills for group projects. Issues I Face. ↵
A group of people with certain skills who share a common purpose, approach, and performance goals.
Roles that help a team accomplish its goals.
Roles that help team members understand the part they play in a team, support them in their roles, and maintain or improve group cohesiveness.
