DEFINITION:
The phrase “team orientation” refers to the personality trait of having a predisposition to function effectively in a team setting.
ETYMOLOGY:
The phrase “team orientation” appears to have originated in the context of industrial and organizational psychology in the 1960s.
By the early decades of the twenty-first century, the phrase had become well defined—see, e.g., Jos Fransen, et al., “Mediating team effectiveness in the context of collaborative learning: The importance of team and task awareness” (Computers in Human Behavior, 2011, 27: 1103–1123)—and well-studied and widely accepted as a real and significant personality trait—Susan Mohammed and Linda C. Angell, “Surface- and deep-level diversity in workgroups: Examining the moderating effects of team orientation and team process on relationship conflict” (Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2004, 25: 1015–1039).
The English noun “team” is attested from the twelfth century. It derives, via the Middle English word teme, from the Old English noun tēam, meaning “offspring, lineage, or group of draft animals.” It is akin to the Old English verb tēon, meaning “to draw” or “to pull.”
The English noun “orientation” is attested from the nineteenth century. It is connected to the verb “to orient,” which is attested from the eighteenth century, and to the noun “Orient,” meaning “east,” which is attested from the fourteenth century.
The word “Orient” itself derives, via Middle English and Middle French, from the Classical Latin substantive oriens, orientis, formed from the present participle of the deponent verb oriror, orīri, meaning “to rise.” The meaning of the substantive oriens is “a rising” or “the rising sun.”
DISCUSSION:
Individuals who score high on “team orientation” prefer working on teams, enjoy the team aspect of their jobs, and are better able to fulfill their tasks in a team setting than by working alone.
Leaders who are team-oriented focus on the motivation, long-term goals, and well-being of their individual team members. They not only incentivize their team members to successfully perform their tasks, but also encourage them to work effectively with others.
That is, being team-oriented means promoting teamwork by means of fostering human capital, in general, and communication, in particular.