"A masterpiece of explanatory journalism!" - New Orleans Picayune "Fast, funny, and highly stimulating!" -Business Book Review Get your signed copy of The NEW Why Teams Don't Work by Mike & Harvey Robbins from Berrett-Koehler Publishers Just click on the book cover!

Chapter 27
The Myth that Teams Must Somehow Have More than One Team Member to be a Team

If teams mustn't be too big, how small can they be before they stop being teams?

We define a team as being two persons or more. But it may be useful, as you sort through the people available to you, to consider a concept we call "the team of one."

A team of one is a virtual team, a single person with lots of diverse expertise whom a team treats as a separate team.

In complex organizations, it's very common for teams to interact. A new product team, for instance, will have dealings with the design team down the hall. They'll get input from another team in finance, and another team in marketing. Usually these teams have a number of people on them. Occasionally, though, the connection is a single person. When this happens, it is good team politics to treat that person as if he or she was a bona fide team. You extend him or her the courtesy you would extend a group. Just because they are a singleton does not allow you to go on a blaming rampage.

Meanwhile, contemplate the beauty of the team of one. It means that instead of putting several people from different functions on the team, the team's diversity is integrated in a single person. Think of the arguments that never happen. Think of the handoffs that never take place. Think of the rapidity with which the team gets through the storming phase.

People think we're joking when we talk about teams of one ("Why would you call a person a team?") but we're not.

Diversity of knowledge is the reason for teams. But the age of the corporate specialist is yielding to the age of the one-man-band – technology driven, entrepreneurial jacks of all trades.

A team of one is so much faster, and so much more unambiguous than a team of more than one.

A team of one is also a splendid way to outplace a team member that doesn’t work well on a daily, close basis with your team, but whose knowledge remains valuable – or someone who just doesn’t want to belong to you. Simply take the individual out of the team box, draw a dotted line to a box that is all his own, and poof, you have a team of one serving as a resource to the team. No muss, no fuss, and everyone is happy.

NOW AVAILABLE from from Berrett-Koehler Publishers (San Francisco) and Texere (UK)!

The New WHY TEAMS DON'T WORK
What Goes Wrong and How to Make It Right

"The American business approach to workplace teams is filled with powerful subtleties and is also quite different from the Japanese. The phrase, "How come all this quality stuff don't work," nicely sums up the challenge making teams work in America. Authors Robbins and Finley present practical solutions to the problems with and misconceptions about teams that will be valuable to any organization inclined to assign teams to work on legitimate operational issues. Pragmatic team tips covered here include team decision-making, communication skills with teams, reward and recognition ideas, the importance of effective team leadership, and the fundamental factor of organizational culture that could help or hinder team success. The authors swap narration of chapters, enlivening this useful handbook on how to make the commitment to teams a success. Serves well any manager's interest in maximizing productivity and quality improvement with teams. Recommended for all quality professionals." -- Quality World