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Teams versus groups

Last week, I made a categorical assertion that business leaders can win with their organizations in today’s turbulent marketplace with differentiating superior service and an ever-ready disposition for tailor-made innovation.

No matter the challenges, organisations can be effective and outstanding in their deliverables to customers and other stakeholders.

I prescribed algorithmic strategies instead of heuristic methods or general strategies, for solving problems. Leaders are not likely to arrive at optimal solutions with these strategies but algorithm is the precise step-by-step method that reliably produces or yields an output value from well-planned, well-coordinated and effectively cascaded input values.

Today, we will be discussing fundamental distinctions between the TEAM and the Working Group in a workplace that is designed for exceptional and superior performance. Verifiable experiences tell us that mutual accountability by teams delivers astonishing results and genuine team buy-in is the lifeline that assures organisational key results or OKRs.

Teams and exceptional performance are inseparable, according to Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, in their article on “The Discipline of Teams”. Not all groups are teams. A working group may be strong and with clearly focused leader but it lacks shared leadership roles and values are therefore, not optimised. Working groups showcase individual accountability and their purpose tends to only be in sync with the broad organisational objectives. Teams are essentially characterized by not only individual accountability but also mutually “compounding” accountability. Teams possess specific and agreed purpose that they faithfully deliver: They thrive in open-ended discussions and productive problem-solving engagements. Teams achieve performance directly by collective work outputs. Team members discuss, decide and do, as well as achieve, value-adding results together. Run-of-the-mill working groups are usually tailored towards constant (although salutary) impact on the financial performance of the business. Most organizations measure their activities through agreed targets that are constraining and limited. Working groups are usually coloured by delegation and individual work results. These groups are most times, criticized for being abrasive, mechanistic, myopic, defending, self-absorbing and entitled. They do not exude boldness, power and motivation like the teams.

Mutual accountability of teams achieves expected goals and produces astonishing results. The performance levels of creatively put-together teams are far greater than the totality of individual best efforts. Team members always do more than listen, take instructions and act, they engage constructively, provide support and add value to each other. They, of course, also share other team building values.

Intrinsic team discipline is foundational to the productivity and high performance of teams. What binds the team members together, revs them up and rallies them to productive activities is the “meaningful common purpose”. Commitment to performance of specific goals flow from this common purpose. The composition or make-up of the team is the value-adding mix of complementary skills. Members are challenged and therefore imbued with determination and commitment to performance goals as well as how and why these goals must be achieved. As mentioned earlier, mutual accountability is emplaced. Focus and trust therefore align with performance indicators that guide their growth path and growth trajectory. Members leverage on each other’s strengths and skills as well as perspectives and these are creatively tailored for optimal results. They work together and engage for stellar performance.

When teams are exceptionally collaboratively, they make available combinations of knowledge, depth and breadth to get the job done in the midst of challenges.

I challenge business leaders to form and cultivate home grown creative teams. We must put to work the ability and comparative advantage to identify and encourage creativity in the workplace. Leaders should facilitate environments in which the entire workforce can release its imagination and be exponentially productive. This decision will offer fresh perspectives, unique insights and myriad of beneficial solutions.

The characteristics of creative work environments include; adaptation, envisioning, self-efficacy, confidence, broadening and productive engagement as well as the culture of feedbacks. Employees and associates should be encouraged to challenge “status-quo” ideas, processes and ways of doing things.

High performance organisations need indispensable goal-setting frameworks in order to achieve and track “organisational key results”. These frameworks will get our teams focused, aligned and committed to “absolutely crushing their goals”. This framework enables us to identify clearly, what is constraining the growth of the business. For instance, problems with unique customer experience and what is causing churn? Also, problems with sales/marketing and distribution funnels and pipelines. We must also appropriately determine how to achieve key results and measure success, growth as well as prosperity. Initiatives must be captured and diligently worked on. Also, well-determined efforts to align and progress strategy with organisation’s vision must be determined and implemented.

Another important area is the regular assessment of key opportunities: real market needs, growth options and impact, changing conditions as well as trends.

Let me conclude by pointing out once again, that teams’ genuine buy-in is a sine-qua-non to organisation’s effectiveness in our efforts to achieve key results. Also, the key growth strategy must be home-grown and jointly owned by all of us. It is our key responsibility and the heart of the business. We must not place the stability and future of our business in the hands of people who can never be as committed as we are. Let us continue to deliver superior values, differentiate ourselves and be better as well as outstanding organisations.

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