How Do We Use Teams?

In order to understand the strategy of team facilitation, it is important to understand the ways in which contemporary organizations use teams. In the best-case scenario, teams are designed and utilized for the unique business environment and culture of the organization in which they will function. If teams are not utilized and supported based on this premise, the team structure becomes ineffective.

In terms of purpose and uniqueness to the organization, the power and authority given to teams varies. It is important to understand the power and authority teams have in order to successfully facilitate team development. This distinction is an important factor in understanding how organizations use teams.

What Functions Do Teams Perform?

According to Levi and Askay (2020),

“Sundstrom, McIntyer, Halfhillm and Richard (2020) identifies six types of work teams on the basis of the functions they perform:

1. Production teams, such as factory teams, manufacture or assemble products on a repetitive basis.
2. Service teams, such as maintenance crews and food services conduct repeated transactions to service customers.
3. Management teams, composed of managers, work together, plan, develop policy, or coordinate the activities of an organization.
4. Project teams, such as research and engineering teams, bring experts together to perform a specific task within a defined period.
5. Action or performing teams, such as sports teams, entertainment groups, and surgery teams, engage in brief performances that are repeated under new conditions and that require specialized skills and extensive training or preparation,
6. Parallel teams are temporary teams that operate outside normal work, such as employee involvement groups and advisory committees that provide suggestions or recommendations for changing an organization.” (p. 15)

Facilitation of teams will vary, based on the function and type of team. To fully understand how organizations use teams, let’s look at other ways that teams can be characterized, other than by the activities or functions.

Researchers (Devine, Clayton, Philips, Dunford, & Melner, 1999) have uncovered the fact that teams can be categorized by ways other than the activities that they perform. Research has shown us that teams can be categorized by: (1) whether they are permanent or temporary, (2) degree of internal specialization and interdependence they require, and (3) the level of integration and coordination with other departments/divisions (Mohrman, 1993; Sundstrom, DeMeuse, & Futrell, 1990).

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