Teams are part of the modern organizational culture. Whether you are a team leader or a team member, having a better understanding of how teams work, and being able to identify where the team is in the process, is a critical part of ensuring the team is ultimately successful. Start with the basics and understand what a team is and what role they play in an organization.
If you visit an organization, you will find that most of the activities of the organization are performed by a group of persons. Most of the work in organizations is done in teams. In an organization, activities are arranged in such a way that requires collective contribution. In fact, new organizations can be described as composed of teams.
In modern organizations, individuals are required to work in different types of teams. Even though individuals are important, their effectiveness depends, to a large extent, on the teams of which they are members. Every individual contributes to the achievement of a common goal. The individuals interact, collaborate, coordinate, and influence among the members. Thus, most of the time individuals work in a team.
A team consists of individuals. However, the collection of individuals in a place may be only a crowd. When individuals come together for certain tasks, then we have the formation of a group. A 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. Let’s define these terms.
The main function of a group is to exchange task-related information and discuss task-related issues. The accountability in the group Building Roles and Teams remains of the individual. Each individual brings his/her competencies as well as the relevant information related to the task. Thus the group can be defined as a collection of individuals working in face-to-face relationships to share information and resources for a task to be achieved.
The team is qualitatively different from the group in several ways. The team functions almost like an individual. In other words, the team is accountable for results; collective responsibility is taken. There is mutuality and complementarity of the members of the team. The most important characteristics of a team are that it creates synergy, i.e., the performance of the team is more than the collective performance of the individual members. Hence, A team can be defined as a group of individuals working in a face-to-face relationship for a common goal, having collective accountability for the outcome of its effort.
Attribute |
Group / Work-Group |
Team |
Purpose |
Same as that of Organization |
Teams could be created for a specific purpose, distinct from that of the organization |
Work Products |
Individual |
Collective |
Process |
Discuss, decide, delegate |
Discuss, decide, do |
Leadership |
A single leader |
Shared Leadership |
Meeting |
Efficient |
Open, Problem Solving |
Accountability |
Individual |
Individual and Mutual |
Performance |
Performance typically depends on the work of individual members. |
Performance depends on both individual contributions and collective work products- the joint outcome of team members working together |
Responsibility |
Members of groups do not take responsibility for any results other than their own, although they do pool their resources to attain a goal |
Each team member shares responsibility for the team outcome. |
Goal |
Groups share a common interest goal |
Teams share a common interest goal plus a common commitment to purpose which supplies a source of meaning and emotional energy to the activities performed. |
Evaluation |
Indirect (Eg. Financial) |
Direct (Collective Work Product) |
A team may be defined as a group of two or more people who interact and influence the members for the achievement of a common goal. 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 they should be compatible with each other.
"A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they are mutually accountable." - Katzenbach and Smith, 1993
“A team is groups of two or more people who interact and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization.” - Steven and Mary Ann Von
A team is defined as a reasonably small group of people, who:
Based on this definition given above, the characteristics of the teams may be elaborated as under:
The frequency of interactions, influence, and the nature of tasks may determine the formation of a group, i.e., long-term, short-term, formal, informal, etc. Many new managers and supervisors reading this article will be taking over the management of an existing team rather than bringing together a new one. However, understanding these basics will help you put together your ideal team if you had the opportunity. This will help you fully understand the issues you may face.
Each individual is a contributor and brings a set of skills and knowledge to the organization. When we bring those individuals together, there is a wider range of skills and experience, and as a leader, you are able to come up with even better solutions.
Narrative leadership is interpreted as the leader who aspires to construct leadership by telling stories. Leadership is a task of persuasion, of winning people’s minds and hearts. Storytelling is thus inherently suited for the task of leadership. Learn about the narrative leadership style and how to use this style to inspire and motivate followers or to manage change.
Laissez-faire is a style of leadership that affords the group members a great deal of independence. Tasks are delegated to the group members and they are responsible to see the project through to fruition. Research has shown that this style of leadership leads to the lowest levels of productivity. This article explains this style and covers the implications of having a hands-off approach and the situations where this style could be effective.
Concept & Definition of Stress
Stress is a popular expression used by people in day to day life. Pressures of day to day living sometimes necessitate coping or dealing with them and stretch the body beyond its natural capacity. They are called stressors. Stress is a natural, ongoing dynamic, and interactive process that takes place as people adjust to their environment.
Tools for Developing Your Team
If a manager has too many weak spots in the talent of the team, the ability to empower the team members to independently execute the project is impaired. Assignments fall behind schedule or stretch out because the needed skills or knowledge are not in place when needed. To successfully execute important projects, hiring talented people, and increasing the talents of existing staff are most important.
Teams are part of the modern organizational culture. Whether you are a team leader or a team member, having a better understanding of how teams work, and being able to identify where the team is in the process, is a critical part of ensuring the team is ultimately successful. Start with the basics and understand what a team is and what role they play in an organization.
Recognizing Stress & its Sources
As an individual, you almost certainly know what stress feels like. Stressors are events or situations to which people must adjust. Stressors may be physical or psychological in nature. The level of severity of stress is determined not merely by exposure but the intensity, duration, and frequency of stressors. The sources of stress are many. They arise from multiple areas both with the individual and from the environment.
Benefits of Teams in Workplace
The use of formal work teams is commonplace in modern organizations. But why we have teams? What are the benefits or advantages that teams provide for organizations and employees? Do we really need to adopt formal team structures and use team-building approaches in organizations? Read this article to explore and learn the benefits of having formal teams in organizations.
Team leadership theory is a recent leadership theory that does not discriminate between the leader and the other team members. The approach considers contributions from each team member to be critical for organizational success. This approach focused on the overall team effectiveness and team problems are diagnosed and action is taken to remediate weakness. This approach provides for taking corrective action when the leader deems necessary.
Team Foundation in Forming Stage
This is the first stage of team development. This is the stage when the foundation of the team is laid. During the Forming stage, team members have a high dependence on their leader for guidance. Learn the practical strategies you can use during this stage to help your team develop into a highly effective performing team.
Share Information with Your Team
Willingness to share information is the most critical and the very first step in the Journey to employee empowerment and team development. People cannot make good technology or business decisions without information. They need to understand the purpose behind what they are doing and connect with the big picture. People with information feel the need to take the risk of making decisions that enable business growth.
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