--- title: Does Your Business Need a Team or a Working Group? description: In The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni says business leaders can be a team or a working group. What's the difference, and how does it affect your company? image: https://info.eosworldwide.com/hs-fs/file-3096438287-jpg/blog-files/are-you-a-team-or-a-working-group-300x200.jpg --- - [2020 EOS Conference](https://eosconference.com/) - Request a Speaker - [Become an EOS Implementer](https://eosi.eosworldwide.com) - [Find an EOS Implementer](https://eosimplementers.com/) - Contact - [**Login to Base Camp**](https://bc.eosworldwide.com) - [Base Camp](https://www.eosworldwide.com/base-camp-overview) - [Blog](https://info.eosworldwide.com/blog) [MENU](https://info.eosworldwide.com/blog/102124/eos/member-team-working-group/#sidr) - What is EOS? - [EOS Model](https://eosworldwide.hs-sites.com/eos-model) - [EOS Process](https://eosworldwide.hs-sites.com/eos-process) - [EOS Toolbox](https://eosworldwide.hs-sites.com/eos-toolbox) - [EOS History & Team](https://eosworldwide.hs-sites.com/eos-story-team) - [EOS Implementers](https://eosworldwide.hs-sites.com/what-is-an-eos-implementer) - Why EOS Works - [Why EOS Works](https://eosworldwide.hs-sites.com/why-eos-works) - [Real World Results](https://eosworldwide.hs-sites.com/testimonials) - [EOS Books](https://www.eosworldwide.com/traction-library) - [EOS Tools](https://www.eosworldwide.com/eos-tools) - [Base Camp](https://www.eosworldwide.com/base-camp-overview) - [**Get Started**](https://eosworldwide.hs-sites.com/get-started) - [Find an EOS Implementer](https://www.eosimplementers.com) - [Become an Implementer](https://eosi.eosworldwide.com) - [Contact](https://eosworldwide.hs-sites.com/contact) - [Base Camp Login](https://basecamp.eosworldwide.com) - [Blog](http://blog.eosworldwide.com) - [Request a Speaker](https://www.eosworldwide.com/book-a-speaker) - [2020EOS Conference](https://eosconference.com/) Close ![Header-Placeholder.jpg](https://info.eosworldwide.com/hs-fs/hubfs/eos-blog2.jpg?width=1678&name=eos-blog2.jpg "Header-Placeholder.jpg") ## EOS Worldwide Blog Advice and Insight for Entrepreneurs and Leadership Teams ##### Search the Blog : # [Does Your Business Need a Team or a Working Group?](https://info.eosworldwide.com/blog/102124/eos/member-team-working-group/) Written by[Mike Roth](https://info.eosworldwide.com/blog/author/mike-roth) on April 25, 2016 - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [Implementers](https://info.eosworldwide.com/blog/topic/implementers) [EOS](https://info.eosworldwide.com/blog/topic/eos) Something that is surprisingly difficult in business is having a true functioning team. In his book [*The Advantage*](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470941529/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=30910543821&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9948585255309440815&hvpone=&hvptwo=42&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_20vzz2ba7z_b), Patrick Lencioni articulates four disciplines that are necessary to achieve organizational health. Discipline 1 is to build a cohesive leadership team. He poses the question of whether a group of leaders is a "team" or a "working group." You may ask, what's the difference? ## Teams Vs. Working Groups in Business Leadership A ***team*** is like a basketball team. It's a group of people that "play together simultaneously, in an interactive, mutually dependent, and often interchangeable way." A ***working group*** is like a golf team where "players go off and play on their own and get together and add up their scores at the end of the day." As I work with companies that commit to making the journey to implement EOS and become strong in the [Six Key Components](https://www.eosworldwide.com/eos-model) (Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, & Traction) of EOS, I see teams develop in two ways: 1. If there is a true team in place, I see it become stronger. 2. If the team is really a working group, I see it become a team. ## Becoming a Stronger Team The tools in EOS help teams build trust, eliminate politics, and increase efficiency because they: - Help build trust and appreciate each team member's strengths and weaknesses, through the use of "trust builder" [tools](https://traction.eosworldwide.com/eos-toolbox) - Teach teams how to openly engage in conflict for the greater good of the organization as they [Identify, Discuss and Solve issues](http://blog.eosworldwide.com/blog/95975/traction-thoughts/solving-big-stuff-issues-solving-track/#axzz46Z3qwoOE) - Provide a methodology to hold one another [accountable](http://blog.eosworldwide.com/blog/accountability-ingrained-in-company-culture#axzz46Z3qwoOE) to their Rocks, To-dos, Core Values, and Roles related to their fuction Does your team appreciate each other, openly engage in constructive conflict and hold each other accountable? If not, you might have a working group. ## Next Steps - Share this post with your network or add your comment below! - Download a [free chapter of Traction](http://www.eosworldwide.com/traction) by EOS founder Gino Wickman - Request a [free 90-Minute Meeting](http://traction.eosworldwide.com/90mm) with an EOS Implementer to get a clear picture of what it looks like to run your company on EOS. [![New Call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/434170/5b3e8877-980c-4643-b32c-ac5cbd200142.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/434170/5b3e8877-980c-4643-b32c-ac5cbd200142) --- More Blog Posts: ← [Do You Really Need to Have the Right Team?](http://blog.eosworldwide.com/blog/do-you-really-need-right-team) | [Achieve Your Company's Vision by Ditching the Big Picture](http://blog.eosworldwide.com/blog/achieve-company-vision-ditching-big-picture) → ![eos-tools-dark.jpg](http://www.eosworldwide.com/hubfs/eos-tools-dark.jpg "eos-tools-dark.jpg") ## Unlock The Toolbox. 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