Are you part of a team or work group and why it matters to building effective teams

Recent research found that the average number of meetings that an employee attends has increased by 150% since March 2020 and employees are spending more time involved in collaborative activities than ever before. 

The impact this is having is that employees are struggling to bring the right level of mental and emotional investment into the various groups they are attached to, resulting in less productive teams, especially if it is unclear what the goals are and what is expected of each person. 

It can take a great deal of investment for organisations to build effective teams. To allocate spend, time and resources wisely, it is necessary to first establish if a team should be created to achieve an outcome or if the same outcome can be achieved more efficiently and cost effectively by a work group.  

It is also important that employees know if they are part of a team or working individually. If a work group is referred to as a team but does not function as a team, it can be alienating for all involved and result in reduced satisfaction and performance. 

If a team is deemed best to deliver an outcome, it is important to set a clear direction and agree shared goals and outcomes to help members feel a sense of belonging and buy-in. This strengthens the team’s purpose and dynamic and builds effectiveness.

What is the difference between a team and working group

Teams are interdependent and united by a shared purpose. Members know who the other members are and take actions and achieve goals together. By contrast, work groups comprise a set of individuals who are more loosely associated and don’t rely on each other to complete a project or achieve an outcome. 

A ‘pre-contract’ helps identify if a group of people are a team or a work group and which is best to complete a project or initiative. This is important because some projects or initiatives will be delivered more efficiently by a work group, others by a team. Furthermore, if a work group is referred to as a team but does not function as a team, it can be alienating for all involved and result in reduced satisfaction and performance. 

High-performing teams are necessary to improve business impact in the longer term, and research shows the first step to building a high-performing team is to formally establish it as a team through a pre-contract.  

4 action points to set up an effective pre-contract team  

Once the team has established it is a team, it can continue to contract purposefully together and define the framework within which the team will operate. It is also easier to find a solution for how to develop team effectiveness and maximise your return on investment. 
In an effective team, every member understands and supports the team’s processes, goals, actions and decisions. If goals are not met, every member feels committed to achieving a better outcome in future. 

Your organisation can build an effective pre-contract team by taking these four steps:  

• Conduct interviews with the team’s leader/s and members to identify needs, themes, challenges and areas to focus on
  Use these insights to decide what interventions, such as skills training or greater leadership alignment, must occur to help the team learn how to work together and become effective.   


• Use diagnostic assessments and surveys to track and monitor the collective sense of belonging and purpose and how this impacts team agility
  Targeted working sessions can support the team to strengthen belonging and purpose and individual capabilities in the flow of daily work. 


• Use team coaching to identify skills gaps based on goals 
  Leadership coaching can support leaders to unlock skills and build an environment where trust, psychological safety and harmonious relationship dynamics can flourish. This will facilitate sustained high performance.  


• Encourage the team to create their own team habits, norms and processes to drive their performance
  Repeat the diagnostics over an agreed period of time to identify the change and impact on the organisation.

Team Effectiveness solution

LHH’s Team Effectiveness solution is a tailored solution to help employers build more cohesive teams, with employees feeling part of a group and working towards shared goals. 

Through a series of individual and group interventions, this programme will act on the priorities of the team, creating a framework to adopt new team habits over a period of time, that will enhance their overall performance on their journey to greater team success.

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