Group versus Team The definition of a group is “two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives” (Robbins & Judge, 2011, p. 277). As a group, you can either work together well, or poorly. Groups can appoint individual members to certain parts of assignments, or individual tasks and then collaborate later together in a group discussion. This can cause functional or dysfunctional conflict. Functional conflict can be worked through even when individuals have different points of view (conflict). Dysfunctional conflict however, can ruin the integrity of the group and cause extreme conflicts. “One researcher says that the problems of brainstorming demonstrate the problems of groups. If you leave groups to their own devices, he says, they’re going to do a very miserable job” (Robbins & Judge, 2011, p. 278). The definition of a team is “a group whose individual efforts result in performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs” (Robbins & Judge, 2011, p. 316). A team works together in harmony since they all need one another to succeed, such as a football team. Effective teams have adequate resources, effective leadership, a climate of trust, and a performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions. Team members are more likely to take risks and expose vulnerabilities when they believe they can trust other on their team. Some of us hold the optimistic view that diversity should be a good thing; diverse teams should benefit from differing perspectives and do better. Two meta-analytic reviews of research
Group versus Team The definition of a group is “two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives” (Robbins & Judge, 2011, p. 277). As a group, you can either work together well, or poorly. Groups can appoint individual members to certain parts of assignments, or individual tasks and then collaborate later together in a group discussion. This can cause functional or dysfunctional conflict. Functional conflict can be worked through even when individuals have different points of view (conflict). Dysfunctional conflict however, can ruin the integrity of the group and cause extreme conflicts. “One researcher says that the problems of brainstorming demonstrate the problems of groups. If you leave groups to their own devices, he says, they’re going to do a very miserable job” (Robbins & Judge, 2011, p. 278). The definition of a team is “a group whose individual efforts result in performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs” (Robbins & Judge, 2011, p. 316). A team works together in harmony since they all need one another to succeed, such as a football team. Effective teams have adequate resources, effective leadership, a climate of trust, and a performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions. Team members are more likely to take risks and expose vulnerabilities when they believe they can trust other on their team. Some of us hold the optimistic view that diversity should be a good thing; diverse teams should benefit from differing perspectives and do better. Two meta-analytic reviews of research