Teamwork takes more time and often more resources than does individual work.65 Teams require managers to communicate more, manage conflicts, and run meetings. So, the benefits of using teams need to exceed the costs. And that’s not always the case!66 In the rush to use teams, some managers have introduced them into situations in which it would have been better to have individuals do the work. So before implementing teams just because everyone’s talking about their popularity, you should carefully evaluate whether the work requires or will benefit from a collective effort.

Three “tests” have been suggested.67 First, can the work be done better by more than one person? Task complexity would be a good indicator of a need for different perspectives. Simple tasks that don’t require diverse input are probably better done by individuals. Second, does the work create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that’s more than the sum of individual goals? For instance, many car dealerships use teams to link customer-service personnel, mechanics, parts specialists, and sales representatives. Such teams can better meet the goal of outstanding customer satisfaction. The final test to assess whether teams or individuals are better suited for doing work is to look at the interdependence of the individuals. Using teams makes sense when there’s interdependence between tasks; that is, when the success of everyone depends on the success of each person and the success of each person depends on the others. For example, soccer is an obvious team sport. Success requires a lot of coordination between interdependent players. On the other hand, swim teams aren’t really teams, except on relays. They’re groups of individuals, performing individually, whose total performance is merely the sum of their individual performances.