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The Team of One
By harveyrobbins | May 6, 2007
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 “the team of one.”
People think we’re joking when we talk about teams on one (”Why would you call a person a team?”) but we’re not.
A team of one is a virtual team, a single person with lots of diverse expertise treated by others 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 just like a bona fide team. You extend him or her the courtesy you would extend a group. Just because the team is 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.
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 is much more unambiguous than a team of more than one.
A team of one is also a splendid way to outplace a team member who doesn’t work well on a close, daily 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.
Topics: Team Effectiveness |