Work Group vs. Work Team
Work Groups versus Work Teams Paper
Douglas Williams
MGT307
May 16, 2010
Dr. Daniel Lewis
In today’s competitive global business market organization are restructuring. Organizations are doing more with less. Organizations with their diverse workforce utilize both work groups and work teams. This paper will answer the following questions. What is the difference between a group and a team? Which is better for a particular organization? What is the importance of diversity in the workplace? How does diversity affect team dynamics in the workplace?
Groups versus Teams A common definition of team comes from the book Wisdom of Team "A team is a small group of people with complementary skills and abilities who are committed to a common goal and approach for which they hold each other accountable”. A group as defined by businessdictionary.com is a “collection of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction, mutual influence, common feeling of camaraderie, and who work together to achieve a common set of goals”. Many people incorrectly use the words team and group interchangeably. A team and group have many differences. “A team 's strength depends on the commonality of purpose and interconnectivity between individual members, whereas a group 's strength may come from sheer volume or willingness to carry out a single leader 's commands”. (Pollick, 2010) The formation of a group is often easier then the formation of a team. During a convention people can be grouped together based on age, gender, specialization, or another common factor. The groups’ leader sets the goal and the way to achieve the goal and the group follows the leaders’ direction. A group’s leader success’ is based on the compatibility of the group and the group’s interpersonal dynamic. The formation of a team is more difficult. A flight crew is a team is made up of people with different specialties. Each flight crew member has a purpose and a function on the crew
Douglas Williams
MGT307
May 16, 2010
Dr. Daniel Lewis
In today’s competitive global business market organization are restructuring. Organizations are doing more with less. Organizations with their diverse workforce utilize both work groups and work teams. This paper will answer the following questions. What is the difference between a group and a team? Which is better for a particular organization? What is the importance of diversity in the workplace? How does diversity affect team dynamics in the workplace?
Groups versus Teams A common definition of team comes from the book Wisdom of Team "A team is a small group of people with complementary skills and abilities who are committed to a common goal and approach for which they hold each other accountable”. A group as defined by businessdictionary.com is a “collection of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction, mutual influence, common feeling of camaraderie, and who work together to achieve a common set of goals”. Many people incorrectly use the words team and group interchangeably. A team and group have many differences. “A team 's strength depends on the commonality of purpose and interconnectivity between individual members, whereas a group 's strength may come from sheer volume or willingness to carry out a single leader 's commands”. (Pollick, 2010) The formation of a group is often easier then the formation of a team. During a convention people can be grouped together based on age, gender, specialization, or another common factor. The groups’ leader sets the goal and the way to achieve the goal and the group follows the leaders’ direction. A group’s leader success’ is based on the compatibility of the group and the group’s interpersonal dynamic. The formation of a team is more difficult. A flight crew is a team is made up of people with different specialties. Each flight crew member has a purpose and a function on the crew
References: Businessdictionary.com (2010) The Definition of Group Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/group.html Lindenberger, J (2010) Diversity in the workplace. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Diversity-in-the-Workplace&id=14974 Morris, C. G., Maisto, A.A. (2005). Psychology: An Introduction. (12th ed.). In Social Psychology, (pp. 590-591). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Naturesencore (2010) Team Dynamics: Conflict Resolution and Time Management Retrieved from http://hubpages.com/hub/OrganizationalTeamwork Pollick, M. (2010) What is the Difference Between a Group and a Team. Retrieved May 16, 2010 from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-team-and-a-group.htm Robbins, S. & Judge, T. (2009) Organizational Behavior (13th ed.) Pearson Education, Inc. Schermerhorn, J., Hunt, J., Osborn, R. (2008) Organizational Behavior (10th. ed.) John Wiley & Sons, Inc TeamTechnology.com (2010) Team Dynamics Retrieved from http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/team-dynamics.html