Building a Team

I’ve had many conversations about teams, both in my programs and in other contexts. I’ve come to the conclusion that we use the word “team” to mean any group of people with something in common, such as work or a sport. This very unclear definition leaves out the purpose of the word.
A team is a group organized to work together. Let me define the word further by considering the role of a team in a work situation: A team is formed at work to accomplish a task or effect a change when one person would not be sufficient. A team may be formed when a small group of people with different talents and backgrounds come together to accomplish a task or effect a change that one person could not do alone.
With this in mind, what do you call a large group of people in the workplace? I would define people working together as a “community”: a group of people having common interests, people who work in the same location with a set of rules or guidelines that govern them.
It makes more sense to call a workforce a community rather than a team. Each person in the community has assignments and tasks to accomplish that assist the whole organization to reach its goals. The tasks are done on an individual basis with expectations on the individual.
But there are times when an individual will not be able to take on a task or cause a change, because a broader base of knowledge is required. It is in this context that a team is formed.
An orchestra is a great example of a team within a community. An orchestra is a community with the vision to play together a great piece of music extremely well. Many musicians bring their talents to the group to do their part as individuals. Each section, such as the violins, then forms a team to accomplish a specific task within the music. Individual violinists work within the smaller group, perfecting specific parts of the overall music. The practice as a small team is then brought into the overall playing of the piece.
A team is a small group of people drawn from the larger community and given a specific task to accomplish. Once the task is completed then that team is no longer required.
It takes leadership to know when to create teams, and it takes leaders to accomplish a team’s task.
Teams are a way to build a better business and be successful through your own people.