Is Your Team Actually a Team, or Just a Workgroup?

Organizations hire individuals based on their personal skills and experience. But on the job, those individuals will be working with others, which makes their ability to collaborate in teams just as essential as their individual talents. 

When a team is effective, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Talented people combine their skills to tackle ambitious projects that would be beyond the reach of any one person alone: 1+1=3. A good team brings out the best in everyone, for the benefit of everyone.

This is why team-building should be high on a manager’s agenda. It’s your responsibility to create a good team dynamic which, as research after research shows, is more profitable and productive. But recognizing a “team” is harder than it looks, especially when dysfunction stays hidden beneath the “artificial harmony” that’s created when team members appear to be getting along but are not actually working in a genuinely collaborative way.

How to Recognize a Dysfunctional Team

Your first task is a diagnostic one—is your team lacking in “teamwork” and not functioning like a team at all? These are the warning signs to watch for: 

Targets and deadlines are missed 

Most organizations establish timelines and milestones based on what a cohesive and interdependent team is capable of accomplishing. If you’re consistently falling short, it could be a sign that your team really isn’t clicking, even if everyone seems to be getting along okay.

There’s no spontaneous cooperation 

In strong teams, people will support each other without anyone (you in particular) having to tell them. If all of the cooperation you see results from your direct instructions, it suggests everyone is thinking like an individual, not as a team member.

Workplace conversations aren’t constructive 

When something goes wrong, do you hear solution-oriented discussions where everyone takes responsibility for improving performance, or a lot of excuse-making and finger pointing?  Good teams will pull together when plans go awry, while bad ones will show signs of falling apart.

Team achievements aren’t acknowledged 

If your employees are eager to receive credit for their contributions, but offer only lukewarm praise for their co-workers’ accomplishments, it’s the sign of a competitive workplace where everyone tends to focus on their own wins.

People seem reluctant to offer honest opinions or fresh ideas 

When your team really isn’t a team, people may be unwilling, or unable, to share their ideas and feedback. This can happen when a few individuals dominate the conversation, or when people simply don’t feel invested enough in team outcomes to take risks that might expose them to rejection.

Team members spend as little time with each other as possible

All workplace interactions are transactional to some degree, but if no one takes the initiative to plan casual interactions like group lunches and coffee breaks, it may suggest the group lacks the trust and ease that healthy working relationships depend on. You may sense no hostility here, but the disinterest is still evident.

You’ll notice that cliques have formed

In healthy teams, people make connections easily and the lines of communication will remain open to everyone. But when the team mentality is lacking, cliques tend to form. You’ll notice the same people always grouping together, and there’s an exclusionary element to this behavior that goes beyond people simply forming friendships.

You’re losing valuable employees too frequently

Poor retention rates can result from a chronic deficiency in team cohesion. People feel drained by work environments where colleagues seem unsupportive and disengaged. High turnover is especially telling when employees are making purely lateral moves.

Personality Testing as a Team-Building Tool

A 2021 study found that the actions of managers are responsible for 70% of their team members’ engagement. This means that if your team is not really behaving as a team, you have the power to turn things around.

One of the most practical ways to do that is by using personality testing to get a better sense of how people think, communicate and respond under pressure. Any one of Truity’s TypeFinder®, DISC, Big Five or Enneagram personality assessments can help identify where motivations and working styles are misaligned, as a starting point for developing the strategies to fill those gaps. Used this way, personality testing delivers several clear benefits:

1. Personality testing increases everyone’s self-awareness. Your employees may not realize your team is dysfunctional, or understand how their behavior contributes to the problem. The increased awareness gained from personality testing will help people see how they show up at work and unite everyone in pursuit of a common goal (which is the very definition of teamwork!).

2. You’ll be able to assign roles more intelligently. It’s fairly common for team members to feel frustrated because you’re asking them to perform tasks they find tedious while overlooking opportunities to put them in roles they’d really enjoy. Knowing more about their deeper motivations and preferred working styles can help you match them with roles more thoughtfully, making them feel more invested in your team’s success.

3. You can say goodbye to dull and uninspiring work meetings forever. When you understand how different personalities communicate, you can run meetings that feel more engaging and create space for a wider range of ideas. In this environment, everyone will be encouraged to share, leading to well-rounded discussions and a genuine appreciation for what each team member brings to the table. Over time, your meetings will become more productive, more collaborative, and more valuable to the team as a whole.

4. Your conflict resolution procedures will be far more effective. Ongoing conflicts can divide a workplace and undermine efforts to build a team-centered culture. Personality testing can give you insight into the true sources of these conflicts, allowing you to intervene in ways that address the root of the problem without assigning blame. Your conflict resolution strategies become more focused, taking into account the concerns and perspectives of everyone involved.

5. Better communication will reduce misunderstandings. Understanding how personality impacts communication can make your employees more aware of, and intentional around, how they speak to each other. It can help people adapt their style so conversations are clearer, calmer and less frustrating for everyone.

6. You’ll be able to address personality imbalances in your team. The most effective teams are made up of individuals whose working styles complement one another. When too many team members share similar preferences and tendencies, it can lead to competition for control and shortages of skills that other personality types could provide. Personality testing can help you correct these imbalances, showing you how to diversify your teams to encourage more collaboration and cooperation.

7. Your retention rates will increase. A 2021 study by McKinsey & Company found that strong relationships, a supportive work environment, and work that provides a sense of purpose are key factors in high retention rates. Personality testing delivers all of these benefits, by helping you shape employees’ work experiences so their strengths are recognized, valued and put to use in ways that enhance team performance as a whole.

Hold a Team Workshop To Help You Get Started

One of the best ways to make sure everyone is on the same page and focused on building a great team is by holding a team workshop, using results gained from your preferred personality assessment framework. For example, holding a Myers-Briggs workshop or a DISC Assessment workshop will give the whole team some practical strategies for better communication, smoother collaboration, and more constructive conflict resolution. The workshop format is teamwork, before it is anything else!

After all, a team is not just a simple collection of people working in the same place. It’s a group of individuals who understand one another, pull in the same direction and know how to bring out the best in each other. Personality testing is the most efficient tool managers have to build the kind of understanding that turns a group of individuals into a genuine team.