We are a team.”
Hardly any other sentence is said more often in companies or – let’s put it in a nutshell: propagated – and less often actually realized.
Teamwork is now considered standard: in mission statements, job advertisements, management principles. Agile organizations, flat hierarchies, cross-departmental collaboration – everything relies on team spirit, cohesion and “together-we-are-more”.
But in practice, one uncomfortable truth remains: a group is far from being an effective team.
In B2B sales in particular, especially in internal sales, but also in management teams and in complex projects, team quality directly determines results, speed and customer impact. Added to this are New Work, working from home and the decoupling of time and space for the all-important exchange and communication within the team. People simply don’t meet as often as they used to, whether in the meeting room or for an informal (important!) chat in the coffee lounge. A lot is demanded, but a realistic framework for this must also be created.
Why companies rely on teams – and are too often disappointed
Well-done teamwork releases enormous energy: motivation, responsibility, creativity, willingness to perform. People grow beyond themselves – together and individually.
Poorly done teamwork, on the other hand, costs time, nerves, motivation and money.
The difference lies not in good intentions, but in structure, leadership and communication. An efficient team works like a well-coordinated crew:
Roles are clear, responsibility is distributed, diversity is utilized – and the teamwork remains stable even under pressure.
Team development follows clear patterns
The model of the four phases of team development (Francis & Young) has been tried and tested for years – and is now more relevant than ever:
- Orientation: The start is characterized by restraint. People are observing, feeling things out, still holding back with clear positions. Politeness dominates, clarity is often still lacking.
- Conflict/exchange: Now it gets honest – and exhausting. Interests clash, questions of power arise, alliances form. Many teams fail here – not because of the conflict itself, but because of a lack of leadership and a lack of conflict competence and conflict readiness. Good communication thrives on practice, experience and practice. Given in the home office? Still allowed in the work-life balance world?
- Organization: Those who reach this phase begin to become productive. Rules emerge, cooperation becomes more conscious, feedback more objective. Differing opinions are not avoided, but utilized. Clear, reliable rules AND reliable partners are so helpful, especially in challenging situations.
- Integration/performance: The team delivers. Energy flows into results instead of friction. Ideas are generated openly, responsibility is shared, performance and enjoyment of work go hand in hand. Higher Self in the open-plan office and in the home office too. Working in FLOW.
Important for managers: these phases are not a one-off process. Every change – new goals, new leadership, new team members – sets the dynamic in motion again.
Team leadership is a discipline in its own right within leadership skills.
Leading teams successfully requires different tools than traditional line management. Even more so in a remote working environment.
Successful team leaders – whether in sales, management or HR – have:
- strong communication skills
- Clarity in role, decision and responsibility
- Conflict resolution instead of conflict avoidance
- Understanding of group dynamic processes
Basic training in occupational psychology is definitely helpful and recommended. And: you consciously create challenges. Without ambitious goals, without points of friction and development, performance drops – even in good teams. A permanent cuddle course neither brings lasting satisfaction, nor does it strengthen the bond within the team, nor does it stimulate learning processes.
New team members: opportunity or risk?
Every new arrival brings fresh impetus – and new dynamism. The higher the profile of a personality, the more intensive the integration process.
Open, well-managed teams can cope with this – they grow from it. Unclear teams quickly fall back into old patterns of conflict.
Why team training is so crucial
Regular, high-quality communication is not a “soft skill”, but a hard success factor. The salary slip alone does not create cohesion or team spirit. It is a hygiene factor. But not much more than that.
Targeted team training – with a focus on collaboration, communication, roles and conflicts – acts like a maintenance interval:
- they stabilize performance
- make hidden tensions visible
- increase speed and quality of results
- show everyone and the team management in particular: this is where we currently stand.
For B2B sales and management teams in particular, such training is not a nice-to-have, but a clear competitive advantage that pays off in terms of success.
Teamwork – with a sense of proportion
Not every task requires permanent team proximity. Field service, service or certain expert roles work excellently with a high degree of independence – as long as the ability to work in a team is present where it is needed.
The art lies not in dogma, but in the appropriate use of teamwork.
Conclusion:
Above-average performing teams are not a sure-fire success. This is the case in sport and in our companies. Team building and team development are therefore neither a luxury nor feel-good measures, but powerful, directly effective investments in performance and success.