Let us first go through a simple real life situation. Show
John was working as a key accounts head with a leading advertising firm. He had four members reporting to him. Unfortunately he always under estimated his team members and fought with them constantly. He could never trust them and always thought they were incapable of doing good work. One fine day, he got some major assignment from one of his clients which was to be submitted within two working days. He decided to do it all alone as he thought nobody else could do it apart from him. John could never submit his assignment on the required day and received good criticism from his superiors. His organization also lost one of their major and prestigious clients. Why do you think John failed? Why could he not complete his assignment on time? Here comes the importance of a team. Had John taken the help of his team members, he would have finished his assignment on time and everyone would have appreciated him. An individual cannot perform all tasks on his own. He needs the support as well as guidance of others to be excellent in whatever he does. Complex goals can easily be accomplished if individuals work together as a team.  What is a team?A team is a group of individuals, all working together for a common purpose. The individuals comprising a team ideally should have common goals, common objectives and more or less think on the same lines. Individuals who are not compatible with each other can never form a team. They should have similar if not the same interests, thought processes, attitude, perception and likings. Difference between Group and TeamA group is not necessarily a team. A group can have individuals with varied interests, attitude as well as thought processes. It is not necessary that the group members would have a common objective or a common goal to achieve. What happens in a political rally? The political leader appeals to the individuals to cast the votes in his favour only. Do you think all of them would cast the votes in favour of the leader? There would always be some individuals who would support his opponent. This is example of a group. All individuals gathered on a common platform but had dissimilar interests and likings. Some were in favour of the leader while some against. A team must have individuals with a common objective to achieve. They should all work together and strive towards the achievement of a common goal. What happens in a cricket team?All the players have a common focus and a common objective. Everyone, the captain, the wicketkeeper, the bowlers, the fielders all work together to achieve a common target i.e. win the game. No one ever thinks of losing the game. It is not only the individuals who form a team; even animals can constitute a team. Go to any hill station and one can spot many horses all working for a common goal i.e. Carry people to the hill top and bring them back. Team membersThe team members must complement each other. All team members should help each other and work in unison. Personal interests must take a back seat and all of them must deliver their level best to achieve the team objective. Team members must not argue among themselves or underestimate the other member. Organizations have a sales team, administration team, human resources team operation team and so on. All the members of the sales team would work together to achieve the sales target and generate revenues for the organization. Team SizeThe team size depends on the complexity of the task to be accomplished. Ideally a team should consist of 7-10 members. Too many members also lead to confusions and misunderstandings. It is not always that we require a team. Teams should be formed when the task is a little complicated. A single brain can sometimes not take all critical decisions alone, thus a team is formed where the team members contribute equally making the task easy. A team can actually create wonders if all the team members work in unison. Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)
Most of the work in a business entity is performed in groups. Although the individual personality of an employee is important, their effectiveness depends on the teams in which they are working collectively to achieve any objective. In a particular team, there can be several groups in which the group members individually help their leader to accomplish the goals. Below you can see the difference between group and team in an organization, explained in tabular form. Content: Group Vs Team
Comparison Chart
Definition of GroupA group is an assemblage of persons who work, interact and cooperate with one another in achieving a common goal in a specified time. The identity of the group members is taken individually. The members share information and resources with other group members. In an organisation, the groups are made on the basis of common interests, beliefs, experience in common fields and principles, so that they can easily coordinate with each other. There are two kinds of groups:
For example: Ethnic groups, trade unions, friendship circles, airline flight crew, etc. Definition of TeamA group of people who are joined for achieving a common goal within a stipulated period, having collective accountability is known as the team. The agenda of the team is “one for all and all for one”. Apart from sharing information, the team members also share the responsibility of the team task. The team is always responsible for the outcome (i.e. Result of the collective efforts of the team members). The team members have a mutual understanding with other members. They work jointly to maximise the strengths and minimise the weakness by complementing each other. The most important feature of a team is “synergy” i.e. the team can achieve much more as the members can achieve individually. The three key features of team functioning are:
For example: Cricket team, team for accomplishing a project, team of doctors, management team etc. The difference between group and team in the workplace can be drawn clearly on the following grounds:
Similarities
ConclusionA team is qualitatively different from a group. A team plays a very vital role in the life of the members. The team members as it motivates the members for working creatively and actively participating in the team tasks. Moreover, a team stimulates the members to work for/with one another in an achieving an objective. The Group is also not less; the group also helps the members in developing a sense of conformity between the members and respect the group values. It increases their resistance to change. Above all, the power of a group is always more than an individual. What is individual group?A group is a collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one person's actions have an impact on the others. In other words, a group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
What is individual behavior in organization?Individual behavior can be defined as a mix of responses to external and internal stimuli. It is the way a person reacts in different situations and the way someone expresses different emotions like anger, happiness, love, etc.
What is a group in an organization?In short, a group is a number of people who work together. They have individual goals that they work toward collectively. While groups work toward separate goals, they have a related interest or identity that brings them together. There are two types of groups: informal groups and formal groups.
What are the 4 types of groups?Four basic types of groups have traditionally been recognized: primary groups, secondary groups, collective groups, and categories.
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