There are six major types of teams: informal, traditional, problem solving, leadership, self-directed, and virtual. Table 1 describes some of the characteristics of these six types of teams.

Informal Teams. Informal teams are generally formed for social purposes. They can help to facilitate employee pursuits of common concerns, such as improving work conditions. More frequently however, these teams form out of a set of common concerns and interests, which may or may not be the same as those of the organization. Leaders of these teams generally emerge from the membership and are not appointed by anyone in the organization.

Traditional Teams. Traditional teams are the organizational groups commonly thought of as departments or functional areas. Leaders or managers of these teams are appointed by the organization and have legitimate power in the team. The team is expected to produce a product, deliver a service, or perform a function that the organization has assigned.

Problem-Solving Teams. Problem-solving teams or task forces are formed when a problem arises that cannot be solved within the standard organizational structure. These teams are generally cross-functional; that is, the membership comes from different areas of the organization and is charged with finding a solution to the problem.

Leadership Teams. Leadership teams are generally com-posed of management brought together to span the boundaries between different functions in the organization. In order for a product to be delivered to market, the heads of finance, production, and marketing must interact and come up with a common strategy for the product. At top management levels, teams are used in developing goals and a strategic direction for the firm as a whole.

Self-Directed Teams. Self-directed teams are given autonomy over deciding how a job will be done. These teams are provided with a goal by the organization and then determine how to achieve that goal. Frequently there is no assigned manager or leader and very few, if any, status differences among the team members.

These teams are commonly allowed to choose new team members and decide on work assignments, and they may be given responsibility for evaluating team members. They must meet quality standards and inter-act with both buyers and suppliers, but otherwise have great freedom in determining what the team does. Teams form around a particular project and a leader emerges for that project. The team is responsible for carrying out the project, for recruiting team members, and for evaluating them.

Virtual Teams. Rapid and pervasive changes in communication and information technology has had a significant impact on how teams meet and function. Collaborative software, Internet-based teleconferencing systems, and cloud computing have improved the ability for employees to meet, conduct business, share documents, and make decisions without ever being in the same location. While the basic dynamics of other types of teams may still be relevant, the dynamics and management of virtual teams can be very different. As Carl Eidson noted in “How to Manage Remote Workers,” his 2010 Tech-world article, “Leaders accustomed to observing and interacting with their people face-to-face often find it difficult to coach, motivate, and otherwise manage a dispersed team to achieve the highest possible performance.” Other commentators have pointed out that building team chemistry and a specific team dynamic can be far more difficult for virtual teams. Issues can arise with a lack of facial or auditory clues; participants must be taken at their word, even when video-conferencing tools are used.

Accountability is impacted by taking a team virtual. Each member is accountable for his or her tasks and to the team as a whole, usually with minimal supervision. Some have pointed out that members' performance in a virtual team needs to be measured by outcome. Key factors in the success of a virtual team are effective formation of the team, trust and collaboration between members, and excellent communication.

In general, managers must be attuned to dynamics that are unique to virtual teams. As Sue Canney Davison and Bjorn Z. Ekelund write in “Effective Team Process for Global Teams,” conflict can take on a specific character in a virtual environment. While it can explode quickly, it can dissipate just as fast. Davison and Ekelund stress the importance of being deliberate in writing communications, to avoid information being read out of context.

However, virtual teams can also present specific advantages. For example, they allow managers to assem-ble the best team members across an entire organization. Judy Zuccon, in her 2007 article, “IT Down to a T,” advises that virtual teams must take advantage of numerous communications and collaborative tools, such as blogs and wikis.

Global Teams. With the globalization of business, multinational firms can assemble teams made up of members in different countries throughout the world. To a large degree, information technology has made this possible. However, while some global teams do resemble virtual teams, others may take the form of more traditional teams. Some argue that even if a global team will be operating as a virtual team for the most part, initial in-person meetings are crucial to establishing a rapport among team members.

Often, members of global teams are also members of different teams. Global teams are used to work on both short-term and long-term projects. However, as Julia C. Gluesing and Cristina B. Gibson write in “Designing and Forming Global Teams,” global teams do not necessarily represent the most efficient manner of completing a task. Issues of time and distance mean that some tasks can be accomplished with greater speed by local teams. Addition-ally, cultural differences can present a challenge to global teams. These differences can be made manifest in different communication styles, languages, and operating styles.

To combat this challenge, it is necessary to create a shared context or environment, something akin to a third space where team members can create a shared culture, even if that culture and context survives only as long as the team itself does. The standard ways of creating this context are the same as those used to create ritual and symbol in a company culture. Another way to ensure the effectiveness in global teams is selecting the team members carefully. Finally, clear communication is essential for global teams. Communicating information as deliberately and specifically as possible ensures that the message is being conveyed clearly.

Global teams also present unique challenges to managers and team leaders. Many of these have to do with managing cultural differences and perceptions. As Bradley L. Kirkman and Deanne N. Den Hartog point out in “Performance Management in Global Teams,” members of a global team from different nations may have different expectations regarding performance and management. Some team members may want to be recognized for their own performance, while this same measure may be of little to no importance for other team members. In general, leaders of global teams must be very involved in how their team functions, paying close attention to maintaining an environment, virtual or otherwise, in which all team members are comfortable operating.

As can already be seen, teams are not automatically effective. As Stephen J. Stowell and Stepahnie S. Mead write in their 2007 book, The Team Approach, “Team-work doesn't just happen by chance…The construction of a meaningful team requires committment, resolve, courage, and discipline.” Some characteristics of effective teams are clear direction and responsibilities, knowledge-able members, reasonable operating procedures, good interpersonal relationships, shared success and failures, and good external relationships.

Clear Direction. Clear direction means that the team is given a clear and distinct goal. The team may be empowered to determine how to achieve that goal, but management, when forming the team, generally sets the goal. A clear direction also means that team outcomes are measurable.

Clear Responsibilities. Clear responsibilities means that each team member understands what is expected of her or him within the team. The roles must be clear and interesting to the team members. Each team member needs to be able to rely on all the other members to carry out their roles so that the team can function effectively. Otherwise, one or two team members may feel that they are doing all the work. This is one of the reasons so many individuals are initially reluctant to join teams.

Knowledgeable Members. An effective team will be comprised of individuals who have the skills and knowledge necessary to complete the team's task. Cooperation is essential at an early stage in inventorying the skills and knowledge each member brings to the team and working to determine how to utilize those skills to accomplish the team task.

Reasonable Operating Procedures. All teams need a set of rules by which they operate. Sports teams, for example, operate according to a clearly laid out set of rules about how the game is played. Similarly, work teams need a set of procedures to guide meetings, decision making, planning, division of tasks, and progress evaluation. Setting, and sticking to, procedures helps team members become comfortable relying on one another.

Interpersonal Relationships. Teams are composed of diverse individuals, each of whom comes to the team with his or her own set of values. Understanding and celebrating this diversity helps to make a stronger, more effective team.

Sharing Success and Failures. Everyone wants to feel appreciated. Within a team, members should be willing to express their appreciation, as well their criticisms, of others' efforts. Similarly, the organization must be willing to reward the team for successful completion of a task and hold all members responsible for failure.

External Relationships. In the process of building a strong team, groups external to the team are frequently ignored. In order for the team to successfully complete its task, it cannot operate in isolation from the rest of the organization. Teams need help from people within the organization who control important resources. Establishing clear lines of communication with these people early on will facilitate the completion of the team's task.

The most successful teams go through five stages of development. Table 2 outlines these stages.

Forming. Forming is the stage when team members become acquainted with one another. They also assess the group task and the ground rules that will apply to that task. At this stage everyone is typically very polite and willing to go along with suggestions made by other team members. Team members try to avoid making enemies and are frequently more patient with one another than they might be later in the process.

Storming. As the novelty of being a member of the team wears off, conflict emerges. Some members of the team may want to exert greater influence over the process. Leadership struggles may begin, as may interpersonal conflicts. Conflicts may erupt over the task requirements and the best way to achieve that task. This is the stage at which listening and finding mutually acceptable resolutions to the conflict is most important. The team can emerge either united and ready to take on the assigned task or divided, with some members taking a passive role.

Norming. In the norming stage team members make an effort to discover what standards of performance are acceptable. What do deadlines really mean? How high a level of quality is necessary? Does every member have to be at every meeting? Should subteams be developed? If the team can establish harmonious relationships at this stage, it is ready to move on to the performing stage. Some teams, however, disband at this stage.

Performing. At this stage the team is ready to be productive and work on the task assigned. Team members' roles have been established and clarified. Group interaction should be relatively smooth as the team applies some of the problem-solving skills it learned in earlier stages to the task at hand. If the team has reached this stage with-out successfully working through the problems and issues of the earlier stages, it may disband or regress and work through those issues.

Adjournment. At some point almost all teams are disbanded, whether because their task is completed or team members leave. On the one hand this can be a happy stage, with members congratulating one another on a job well done. On the other hand termination means the disruption of working arrangements that may have become comfortable and efficient, and possibly the end of friendships.

Forming an effective team is more complex than simply throwing a group of people together, assigning them a task, and hoping for the best. Potential team members need to be interviewed, and their skills and knowledge should be assessed. Issues to consider in selecting team members include the individual's motivation with respect to both the team and the task at hand; the attitudes and goals of potential team members; potential problems with intragroup relationships; and potential problems with relationships with external groups.

The organization needs to first assess what the skills, knowledge, and attitudes of potential team members should be. What are the tasks that need to be accomplished for the team to be successful? Have managers analyzed the jobs and developed an inventory of required skills and knowledge?

Once these steps have been completed, potential team members can be interviewed. Among the issues the interview process should cover are:

It is important to remember that effective teams are generally made up of a variety of personalities. The selection process needs to be structured so that it is not biased toward one personality type. An effective team

needs both the thoughtful, detail-oriented individuals as well as the outgoing, insightful individuals.

The major impetus for organizations to embrace the team concept is the effort to improve productivity and quality. Teams are a key component of many total quality management programs. In addition to improved productivity and quality, some of an organization's major benefits from the use of teams are improved quality of work life for employees; reduced absenteeism and turn-over; increased innovation; and improved organizational adaptability and flexibility. Effective implementation of teams can also improve office politics by improving the communication and trust between the team members.

Improved Quality of Work Life. Effective teams frequently improve the quality of work life for the employees. An effective team is generally one in which members are empowered to make decisions about how to get work done. Giving team members authority and control over the work processes reduces the amount of external control and increases the sense of ownership and account-ability for the work being done. This helps to create a satisfying and rewarding work environment.

Lower Absenteeism and Turnover. A satisfying and rewarding work environment helps to lower absenteeism and turnover. Teams are particularly effective in this area. Membership in a work team gives an employee a sense of belonging, interaction with others on a regular basis, and recognition of achievements. All of these help to eliminate a sense of isolation within the organization. Team members identify with and feel pride in the work they are doing and come to rely on one another. At some companies, employees are evaluated based on their contribution to their team's efforts.

Improved quality of work life and a reduction in absenteeism and turnover all contribute to a positive impact on the bottom line. Involving employees in teams helps the organization remain open to change and new ideas. As long as teams are seen as a means of improving the organization's ability to meet competitive challenges, they will be part of the business world.