We often use the word “team” when it most closely reflects a working group.

A working group is like a golf team where players go off and play on their own and then get together to add up their scores at the end of the day.

A team is more like a basketball team. One that plays together simultaneously in an interactive, mutually dependent, and often interchangeable way.

Most working groups reflexively call themselves a teams because that’s the word society uses to describe any group of people who are affiliated in their work.

Becoming a real team, not a working group, requires an intentional decision on the part of its members.

I’m going to repeat that for emphasis.

Becoming a real team, not a working group, requires an intentional decision on the part of its members, who are collectively responsible for achieving a common objective for their organization.

Teamwork is a choice.

Photo by Perry Grone on Unsplash.