The number one job of leaders is to build and develop teams. Team building is a skill that can be learned, and it’s incredibly important for a business to scale and accomplish its ambitions.

I’ve built and led teams for over a decade. I’ve seen teams that move mountains and groups that barely move projects forward. The difference isn’t talent, it’s intentional relationship building. Most leaders think they’re building teams when they’re actually managing groups. Here’s the problem: groups complete tasks; teams create exponential results.

The WhatsApp Trap

Your team communicates through WhatsApp. You have regular check-ins. Everyone knows their role. On paper, this looks efficient. In reality, you’ve created a functional group that operates at 60% capacity.

I recently integrated with a company where the “team” had never shared a meal together. Never grabbed coffee. Never had a single conversation that wasn’t about deliverables or deadlines. They were professionals who happened to work on the same project, nothing more.

As someone who’s built and developed teams, this didn’t sit well with me, and the outcome is predictable.

The result? Minimal collaboration, surface-level communication, and zero psychological safety. People completed their individual tasks but never truly worked together.

This is how “teams” operate in most organizations.

Why Groups Fail Where Teams Succeed

When you only interact through formal channels, three critical elements disappear:

1. Trust development. Real trust happens in informal moments, not status meetings
2. Creative collaboration. Innovation requires comfort with vulnerability and risk-taking
3. Resilience under pressure. Teams that know each other personally support each other through challenges

I’ve led teams through product launches, crisis management, and organizational changes. The teams that performed best weren’t the ones with the best individual contributors; they were the ones who genuinely cared about each other’s success.

The Business Case for Team Building

This isn’t about feel-good moments or company culture buzzwords. This is about performance.

Teams with strong interpersonal relationships:

• Communicate problems faster and more honestly
• Share knowledge and resources proactively
• Generate more creative solutions through diverse perspectives
• Maintain higher performance during stressful periods
• Have significantly lower turnover rates

Question for leadership: What’s the cost of having talented individuals work in isolation versus having them function as a true team?

Three Immediate Actions

1. Institute Regular Informal Interactions

Start with monthly team lunches. Not working lunches, actual relationship-building time. Budget for this. It’s not an expense; it’s an investment in team performance.

2. Create Cross-Functional Collaboration Opportunities

Stop assigning projects to individuals. Start assigning them to pairs or small groups. Force people to work together on solutions, not just coordinate on deliverables.

3. Implement Team Rituals

Weekly coffee rounds, quarterly team challenges, celebration of personal milestones. These aren’t distractions from work; they’re the foundation that makes work more effective.

The Leadership Decision

You can continue managing a group of individual contributors who complete tasks efficiently. Or you can invest in building a team that creates exceptional results.

The choice determines whether you’re running a functional operation or building a competitive advantage.

Most leaders choose the path of least resistance, managing groups through formal channels, and wonder why their results plateau. The leaders who invest in intentional team building separate themselves from their competition.

Your talented individuals are already delivering results. Imagine what they could accomplish if they actually worked as a team.

I leave you with this:

• A team isn’t a team until they choose each other’s success over their comfort.
• A team isn’t a team until they trust each other enough to be vulnerable.
• A team isn’t a team until they care more about the group’s success than their individual recognition.
• A team isn’t a team until they willingly sacrifice for each other’s advancement.

Bottom line: Leaders who don’t prioritize team building get individual contributors instead of exponential results. The question isn’t whether you can afford to invest in team building. The question is whether you can afford not to.