Volleyball or Football? Which Team Structure is Right?

Are you deliberate in structuring your work teams? What level of collaboration or coordination is needed between members of the team? How specialized are the roles or tasks performed by the team members? Leaving those questions unanswered can lead to team frustration and inefficiency.

The “Task vs. Talk” Team (T3) Quadrant model plots a team in terms of those attributes. “Task” describes the level of specialization in task assignment or team member role. “Talk” describes the level of coordination needed between individual team members. The “Task vs. Talk” Team (T3) Quadrant plots a team across that continuum of specialization and coordination.

Sports teams are an easy way to characterize each of the quadrants. A team in Quadrant I has a high level of role or task specialization but requires a low degree of coordination between the team members. A swim team is a good example. Team members have specialized roles (i.e. backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke), but very little coordination is required between the team members. Each team member is competing for his or her own best time. Relays require some coordination but in general the coordination is still relatively low. A group of high school teachers or college professors would be another example. They are specialists in their own courses, but normally don't need a lot of cross-course coordination.

A football team is a good example of Quadrant II. There is both a high level of specialization (offense, defense, special teams, running back, quarterback, etc.) AND a high degree of coordination between the team members (especially on offense). A surgical team would be another example (surgeon, nurse, anesthesiologist).

Quadrant III teams require a low level of specialization and low coordination. A wrestling team provides a good illustration. The roles are the same (except for weight class) and team members compete as individuals without need of coordination. A group of telemarketing operators would be another example. They work from a script and are provided the call lists each day so not much specialization or coordination is present.

A volleyball team illustrates Quadrant IV. Each team member must play similar roles (they rotate through all the positions). A high level of coordination is required (one player sets the ball for the other to spike). A flexible manufacturing line with cross trained team members might be another example. Each member can perform the other's role but coordination is needed to react to changes on the line.

Understanding where a team and its members fall on that continuum helps guide deliberate decisions on the proper level of coordination and collaboration needed. No quadrant is necessarily “better” than any other quadrant. You want to be operating at the proper place in the continuum to best support the team’s mission and its members. More importantly you want to set the expectations of the team regarding their individual level of specialization and the amount coordination that is required with others on the team. Having a model provides the framework to set those expectations and to have the conversation on where the team fits in the continuum.

Note: I've received comments that my examples may be to USA centric. If you have some other examples I'd love to hear them. Some folks commented about rugby, and soccer (football to the rest of the world).I'd also welcome any work related team examples you might share. Thanks.

About Confoe: The T3 Quadrant was taken from Confoe Training Solutions' "Understanding Team Differences" course, which is one of the modules from the High Performing Team series. Confoe Training Solutions assembles innovative and customized training interventions using our extensive catalog of organizational, project management, and technology curriculum. If you have questions or would like to learn more please e-mail: train@confoe.com