Before reading chapter 8 of the textbook I believed that team and group was synonymous, but apparently they are not. On page 225 of the textbook there is a clear distinction between both. While “team has been defined as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach, for which they hold themselves accountable; “group, on the other hand, is simply a collection of people with something in common: six people waiting at a bus stop can be considered a group, but certainly not a team.”
Applying both concepts in real life is not so simple, though. For instance, when a student decides to join someone else to develop a school project, I would assume that this partnership would be considered team. However, students not always have the same level of commitment along the project. So this partnership appears to be called group, instead.
Another scenario would be at work. Companies insist on using the word “team” when referring to their employees, we often see groups of employees. Although employees have certain standard qualifications – such as professional background, they not always commit to the projects at the same level. Hence, in my understanding, team and group are two buzz words which have been widely used, however without appropriate criteria.
Garota de Ipanema
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6 years ago
1 comment:
Some authors do use the two terms synonymously. I disagree with how the authors define a group. In the small group book I'm working on, the 6 people at the bus stop are not a group because they're not relying on each other to accomplish their goal--getting on the bus and going to a destination. In my reading, a team can refer to two people working together, but a small group must involve at least three people. In addition, teams often are defined in more task oriented ways whereas small groups may focus more on other objectives, such as building relationships. Team is definitely more of a buzz word, likely because it brings up sports metaphors. Small group is a fuzzier phrase and not as preferred in the business world.
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