Making the Team: A Guide for Managers

Types of Teams in Organizations

Organizations have come to rely on team-based arrangements to improve quality, productivity, customer service, and the experience of work for their employees. Yet not all teams are alike. Teams differ greatly in their degree of autonomy and control vis-à-vis the organization. Specifically, how is authority distributed in the organization? Who has responsibility for the routine monitoring and management of group performance processes? Who has responsibility for creating and fine-tuning the design of the group (Hackman, 1987)? Consider the four levels of control depicted in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1. Authority of Four Illustrative Types of Work Groups

Source: Hackman, J. R. 1987. “The Design of Work Teams.” In J. W. ...