Types of Teams

There are many different types of teams that are used to attack different projects.

Six Sigma Teams

Closely follow several of the other examples on this page. Also, see Six Sigma Teams and the Six Sigma roles and responsibilities guide.

General Improvement Teams

Some have continuity and longevity, but they are usually selected by any group (dept, division) that decides to solve a quality or productivity problem. Management generally chooses the problem for the team to work on and acts as a sponsor. But, it is up to the team to identify and choose the solution.

Process Improvement Teams

A process improvement usually includes team members from multiple departments. They work together to examine the entire process’s overall flow from end to end.

Project / Task Force / Ad Hoc Teams

These teams are usually created for and last as long as the project does, disbanding shortly after. Team members are chosen based on their knowledge and experience in a particular subject. Management usually chooses the project and has tight boundaries for the assignment. The team can comprise all management personnel, all work areas, or any combination thereof.

Cellular Teams

These are the most common teams. Generally, they are comprised of a natural work team. The name cellular comes from manufacturing, where groups of people will act as cells to fabricate or assemble parts. These teams can either be led by management or self-directed.

Self-Directed Teams

These teams often (but not always) come together independently and operate with minimal input from management. They also have more continuity and longevity than other teams. The team selects its own leader to coordinate activities. But, that team leader operates equally with the team members.

Cross-Functional Teams

These teams are comprised of subject matter experts and representatives from multiple departments or areas (functional, process, geographic, etc.) in the organization. Selecting these team members should be done with care and thought. The team is often used on a Project or Improvement team and is best suited for Experimentation teams.

Virtual teams

Virtual teams are groups of individuals collaborating on projects or tasks from different geographic locations, utilizing communication technology to overcome physical distance. Since most major organizations have a global presence, these virtual teams rely on tools such as video conferencing, email, and online collaboration platforms to facilitate communication and coordination. Virtual teams often feature diverse members with varied backgrounds and skills, allowing for flexible work arrangements to accommodate different time zones and meet customer requirements.

Parallel Team

Note: To be honest, I have trouble finding an officially approved definition of a Parallel team. I have (2) potential, not entirely disagreeing definitions. I include this material to provide background to the ASQ Black Belt sample question (included at the bottom of this page) that provides an answer I do not fully agree with. However, I leave it to the belt candidate to consult their training materials to determine the best definition here. If anyone can find a definition of a parallel team citing an industry standard or recognized professional organization, then I ask that they include it below in the comments.

Parallel Teams as Competitive Insurance

One definition of parallel teams I have found is the practice of establishing two or more teams and tasking each with the same goal but dictating no set way of achieving the goal. In this way, the organization increases its chances of finding divergent solutions that wholly or partially meet the project goal.

For example, say that you had to engineer a new kind of mobile device that was more powerful than any on the market and simultaneously required less downtime to charge.

Chartering two or more teams might identify solutions as disparate as dynamic software to control battery life, while another invents more efficient batteries, a third invents a less power-hungry processor, while a fourth invents a novel display mechanism.

While it may seem counter-intuitive to charter multiple teams towards the same goal, it may be necessary for mission-critical projects. Also, the parent organization gets the benefits of all solutions arrived at and has the ability to pick and choose or even combine some or all solutions.

Parallel Teams as Additional Capacity

Another definition that I found for parallel teams is excess capacity. I’ve included a quote and the source below.

Collateral organizations are also called parallel teams Fisher, D. (2000). Communication in organizations (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Jaico. These are groups that are usually created “outside regular authority and communication structures to identify and work on problems that the formal organization is unwilling or unable to deal with.” Fisher, D. (2000). Communication in organizations (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Jaico, pg. 322. For instance, an organization like a university can hire a parallel team to create better advertising and marketing campaigns and let them focus on educating students. Parallel teams can be very beneficial because it usually happens outside the organization itself.

Attribution.

Types of Teams Questions

Question: Which of the following best describes a team that has members with different skills or roles from different areas within the organization? (Taken from ASQ sample Black Belt exam.)

(A) Self-directed
(B) Cross-functional
(C) Parallel
(D) Process

Answer:

C Parallel. A parallel team has members with different skills and roles from different places in the organization.

Note: The answer I provide here is from the published ASQ sample exam answer key. I am not sure I agree with that answer. B, cross-functional teams seem more likely. ASQ isn’t in the practice of explaining the sample exam, nor are they sharing the definition of a parallel team, so I’ve done my best to provide examples of types of parallel teams I’ve found (see above article). In my research, using the Parallel teams definition that refers to capacity augmentation could fit the bill, except that this problem states an internal team where the definition of capacity augmentation would be an external team.

I think it’s most likely that ASQ has a typo in their published answer key, and the real answer is (B) Cross-functional. This is a good example of making sure that you’re scoring so highly on your exam that it doesn’t matter if the official answer to one question in your exam is marked incorrectly.