Team Building Myths

There are many reasons why teams simply don't work. One of these reasons could be that people are misguided by some of the myths that surround teams. This has a detrimental effect on team building. Sompong Yusoontorn highlights 14 of these Myths.

Do any of these reflect your team?

Myth 1 - Individuals aren't responsible for the quality of their team experience because teamwork is a group skill.

The Truth - This is a popular belief that causes even the smartest and most highly skilled individuals to excuse their poor performance by saying, 'I was put on a bad team'. Individuals make a vast difference on teams and should act on all of their personal abilities to affect their entire team's performance.

Myth 2 - Managers and consultants are responsible for building teams.

The Truth - Teambuilding is a series of specific communications or conversations that occur between people who share responsibility to get something done. Team members can and must learn to have these conversations on their own, particularly since a manager or consultant isn't always there.


Myth 3 - It all depends on the leader

The Truth - The most powerful thing a leader can do to foster effective collaboration is to create conditions that help members competently manage themselves. The second most powerful thing is to launch the team well. And then, third, is the hands on teaching and coaching that leaders do after the work is underway. Leaders are indeed important in collaborative work, but not in the ways we usually think.


Myth 4 - Team members' skills are more important than their motivation.

The Truth - When teamwork is important, skills should come after factors like drive, energy, interest, motivation, and enthusiasm because it's shared desire - not talent - that creates teamwork. It's also true that low motivation is more infectious on teams than high motivation. And while skilled individuals act within their roles, committed team members improvise to get the job done.


Myth 5 - For a team to be really successful, its team members must like one another.

The Truth - Teams that encourage affinity for a shared task - not for one another - create the strongest group cohesion. Rather than using exercises and techniques to promote friendships, they work together to adopt a common focus so that team members see good reasons to work with one another.


Myth 6 - Harmony Helps

The Truth - Conflict, when well managed and focused on a teams objectives, can generate more creative solutions than one sees in conflict-free groups. So long as it is about the work itself, disagreements can be good for a team. Indeed slightly grumpy orchestras played a little better as ensembles than those whose members worked together especially harmoniously.


Myth 7 - New members bring energy and fresh ideas to a team.

The Truth - The longer members stay together as an intact group, the better they do. As unreasonable as this may seem, the research evidence is unambiguous. Whether it is a basketball team or a string quartet, teams that stay together longer play together better.


Myth 8 - Bigger is better. Larger groups have more resources to apply to the work.

The Truth - Excessive size is one of the most common - and almost one of the worst - impediments to effective collaboration. The larger the group, the higher the likelihood of social loafing (sometimes called free riding), and the more effort it takes to keep members activities coordinated. Small teams are more efficient - and far less frustrating.


Myth 9 - Team members must subordinate their self interest for the good of the team.

The Truth - Responsible team members retain their personal power. They find a way to align their self interests with the team assignment, knowing that 'going along' without passion or commitment can take the team to where no member wants to go.


Myth 10 - Team members must choose or compromise between getting the job done and treating one another humanely.

The Truth - The best teams believe that the task can get done and that team members can have an extraordinary experience.


Myth 11 - Teambuilding means taking time away from 'real work' at offsite events. 

The Truth - Teambuilding happens in the course of work.


Myth 12 - A team that starts on the right track stays on the right track. 

The Truth - A number of events can occur during the life of a team to break the teams healthy dynamics. To stay 'built', team members should pinpoint problems as they arise and address them immediately.


Myth 13 - Face-to-face interaction is passe.

The Truth - Teams working remotely are at a considerable disadvantage. There really are benefits to sizing up your teammates fact-to-face. A number of organisations that rely heavily on distributed teams have found that it is well worth the time and expense to get members together when the team is launched, again around the midpoint of the teams work, and yet again when the work has been completed.


Myth 14 - Team work is magical. To gather up some really talented people and tell them in general terms what is needed - the team will work out the details. 

The Truth - The best leaders provide a clear statement of just what the team is to accomplish, and they make sure that the team has all the resources and supports it will need to succeed. Although you may have to do a bit of political maneuvering to get what is needed for effective collaboration from the broader organisation, it is well worth the trouble.


Leaders need to focus more on an individual team member consistently performing their unique responsibility to the best of their ability so that teamwork can manifest. How a leader does this is by effectively communicating the big picture and how that individual's contribution makes a difference in helping the team achieve its ultimate objective. Is it time to evaluate your team?


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