4 Types of Teams in the Workplace

In business, work teams are a group of people who collaborate with a common purpose. Team members often have different areas of expertise and varying responsibilities that serve as collaboration tools to maintain cohesion, share information, and complete projects promptly. Team leaders have different management approaches, but no matter the industry or work at hand, this manager's role will be to protect, empower, and oversee the team members, ensuring that they accomplish tasks on time and within budget.

There are a few different types of teams:

1. 1. Operational teams: Operational teams provide resources and support to other teams. Operations may oversee projects to ensure they are on pace; in this fashion, these teams serve various departments. Problem-solving teams, which are generally project-based and temporary, are a type of operational team.
2. 2. Project teams: Project teams are the chief doers; they may create new products, lead sales and advertising as part of a marketing team, or collaborate on the designs of new stores. Project teams will have a specific goal and deadline, and individual members will work toward that shared vision. Functional teams, which include members of the same department with differing responsibilities, and cross-functional teams comprising members from different departments, are both kinds of project teams.
3. 3. Virtual teams: Virtual teams include work-from-home or floating teams with less face-to-face contact. Sales teams, for example, may be part of this virtual sector, doing their work online or by phone.
4. 4. Self-managing teams: Self-managed teams have no team leader; these will be more independent segments of the workplace who fulfill specific jobs independently. This makes the team more flexible.

Work groups go through various phases in pursuit of shared goals. These phases include:

1. 1. Overview: At this phase, team members outline a task or project in broad strokes so that everyone understands the end goal before proper planning begins.
2. 2. Strategy: A team leader assigns tasks and strategizes ideas to see a task completed efficiently and successfully. Using project management methods can help streamline this process.
3. 3. Action: During the action phase, employees collaborate to check off tasks in their project management system.
4. 4. Supervision: Managers oversee the steps of the project, provide feedback, and answer questions to keep the work on track.
5. 5. Completion: After a team completes a project, the team passes it on to top management for approval. Top managers may offer notes to a team before a project goes live.

Teamwork is an essential part of a collaboration and can provide businesses with many advantages:

1. 1. Team building: Team building through exercises, retreats, and other shared activities can enrich team bonds and facilitate brainstorming to yield more robust ideas, content, and products.
2. 2. Higher retention rates: Teamwork instills greater confidence and faith in employees, leading to higher retention rates. Retraining and acquiring new talent takes time, so companies with high retention rates can grow more quickly.
3. 3. Higher productivity: More teamwork means more accomplished tasks, resulting in a stronger brand and higher profitability.

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