An area I am getting more and more involved in recently is Team facilitation where I work with a team of people in an organisation and help them become more effective, to communicate better and to set stretching team goals.

As I work with various groups of people, one thing that is coming to light is that not all groups of people in an organisation are teams. In fact, very few are. They might call themselves a team, refer to teamwork and team players at meetings but when you look very closely they display very few of the characterises of highly effective teams.

John Katzenbach in his book “The Wisdom of Teams” provides the following definition “A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”.

A group of people working in the same department are very often referred to as a team but are they a team or are they a “work group”? In work groups people do their own thing in their own way and are held accountable for their own personal “piece of the puzzle”. Individuals are measured by their own personal performance within the context of the larger organisation within which they work. The way most companies are structured, encourages and rewards individual performance. Pay is determined by individual performance or level of service, acknowledgement is given to individual effort. In this environment, it is extremely difficult for highly effective teams to emerge.

With the best intentions, a manager may decide to try and build a team to achieve a certain task or provide a particular service, Team building days will be arranged and most probably, the team members will have a short burst of enthusiasm and energy for the team. But then, the pressure is on to meet ones own personal goals and objectives and very quickly the team is perceived as more hassle and a nuisance than anything constructive.

Before deciding on building a team, first ask yourself, is a team the right way to go or does a work group make more sense. Teams are not appropriate in all situations. Sometimes you get better results by allowing individuals to focus on their part of the puzzle in relative isolation and bringing all the pieces of the puzzle together to create the full picture. If this is the case, do not call the group of people a team. They are not and by doing so, it just confuses people and gets people de-motivated because when the pressure comes on people will not act as team players because they are too busy looking after their own concerns.

If you decide a team is the way to go, then you need to decide how the full picture will be created through contributions from all team members working together, using complimentary skills and a common approach. Team members need to be excited about and committed to a common team purpose and a set of performance goals for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Making this happen is the challenge for Managers, but it can be done.

If you would like to find out more about building high performing teams, please contact us and we will be happy to arrange a consultation with you to discuss your particular circumstances.

Fergal O’Connor is a Business and Personal Life Coach working in partnership with his Business and Private clients providing a supportive, confidential, challenging and non-judgemental environment to make their ambitions and dreams a reality. Fergal also facilitates a range of Coaching and Management training programs, Team facilitation workshops and is available for public speaking engagements. Fergal can be contacted at Synergy Coaching Services, Tel: (061) 467287, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it web www.synergycoaching.ie

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