There are huge differences between groups, committees and teams.
Simply put, teams multiply their forces, while groups just add them up. 10x10x10 is a different number than 10+10+10. True winning teams even manage to multiply their strengths.
Why is it, then, that in most companies I encounter much more the group than the team idea?
In a group, everyone works on their own tasks rather than on common big goals.
And do you know where I find most groups instead of teams? In the boardroom!
The management often consists of a collection of individual fighters instead of a real team. And since the management automatically has a role model function, this usually continues throughout the company.
Even if such companies have been reasonably successful so far, they could certainly achieve much more with more fun if they would think and act more as a winning team from now on.
Joint commitment to common goals.
This is perhaps the most important characteristic of a team as opposed to a group: teams work together for common goals. In a group, on the other hand, everyone fights for his or her own goals on their own.
This is most obvious in sports: a group of runners is a group because each runs for himself and pursues his own time goals. In team sports, on the other hand, only the team as a whole can win or lose, no matter how good or bad the individual is.
Of course, this requires that you define common goals in the first place. In my observation, however, this is precisely what is often lacking, especially in business management.
And even if there are common goals, individual goals often have priority.
Tip: Have everyone on your team (or in your group) write down their top three team goals individually and then compare. Every time I do this exercise, we end up with a variety of different goals, which are just not really common team goals.
You can fully rely on each other.
I usually see clear deficits in this area: To what extent do the others step into the breach when I can't make progress? To what extent do we support each other, even without being asked?
Conversely, of course, this also means that everyone in the team does "their job" and doesn't just switch because it occurs to them. The goalkeeper can't just switch to the forward unless it contributes to the team's success.
Because you can fully rely on each other, you can then also dare much more as a team. You can take bigger risks and strive for greater success, which is precisely one of the reasons why teams can achieve much more than groups.
Mutual challenge.
This characteristic can only be found in true winning teams. There, you have no trouble challenging each other and also addressing deficits immediately if someone is not "doing their job".
This is extremely important if you want to be able to fully rely on each other, see point 2.
Of course, this requires a certain self-confidence among the team members and the clarity of common goals, as well as strong trust.
Interestingly, this mutual challenging leads to greater openness and more fun - in addition to better results.
So here you have three characteristics that will help you form a winning team out of your group. If you want to discuss this for your situation, just get in touch with me. 👉 Here it goes.
Whenever you're ready, check out my ➔ coaching programs and set up ➔ a 15min appointment here to get to know each other.
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