Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 14/e

Beware! Teams Aren’t Always the Answer

Teamwork takes more time and often more resources than individual work. Teams have increased communication demands, conflicts to manage, and meetings to run. So, the benefits of using teams have to exceed the costs, and that’s not always possible.71 How do you know whether the work of your group would be better done in teams? You can apply three tests.72 First, can the work be done better by more than one person? Good indicators are the complexity of the work and the need for different perspectives. Simple tasks that don’t require diverse inputs are probably better left to individuals. Second, does the work create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that is more than the aggregate ...