Differences between groups and teams Group

Differences between groups and teams
Group	Team or work group
Indeterminate size	Restricted in size
Common interests	Common overarching objectives
Sense of being part of something or seen as being part of something	Interaction between members to accomplish individual and group goals
Interdependent as much as individuals might wish to be	Interdependency between members to accomplish individual and group goals
May have no responsibilities other than a sense of belonging to the group	Shared responsibilities
May have no accountabilities other than ‘contractual’ ones	Individual accountabilities
A group does not necessarily have any work to do or goals to accomplish	The team works together, physically or virtually

A group is a collection of individuals who draw a boundary around themselves. Or perhaps we from the outside might draw a boundary around them and thus define them as a group. A team on the other hand, with its common purpose, is generally tighter and clearer about what it is and what its raison d’être is. Its members know exactly who is involved and what their goal is. Of course it turns out that we are speaking hypothetically here, as any one of us has seen teams within organizations that appear to have no sense at all of what they are really about!

Let us illustrate the difference between a team and a group by using an example. We might look into an organization and see the Finance Department. The Finance Controller heads up a Finance Management Team that leads, manages and coordinates the activities within this area. The team members work together on common goals, meet regularly and have clearly defined roles and responsibilities (usually).

Perhaps the senior management team has decreed that all the high potential managers in the organization shall be members of the Strategic Management Group. So the Finance Controller, who is on the high potential list, gets together with others at his or her level to form a collection of individuals who contribute to the overall strategic direction of the organization. Apart from gatherings every six months, this group rarely meets or communicates. It is a grouping, which might be bounded but does not have any ongoing goals or objectives that require members to work together.

STOP AND THINK!

2.1	Within your working life, what teams are you a member of and to which groups do you belong?

2.2	Within your personal life, what teams are you a member of and to which groups do you belong?

2.3	In what ways was it easier to answer in your personal life, and in what ways more difficult?

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Differences between groups and teams Group