The Difference between
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There is a difference between work groups and teams.
While all teams consist of working groups, not all groups can be considered teams.
Traditionally, working groups have already existed in organizations. Departments such as marketing, finance, human resource have been organized into working groups to fulfil the basic functions of the organization.
However, this new era has brought about a greater need for innovation and creativity; bringing about the need to maximise the potential of every individual.
Difference between
Work Groups and Team
1. A leader dominates and controls a workgroup, while in a team, the leader is a facilitator.
In a team, the leader often is there to facilitate discussion. Instead of imposing his opinions, a leader in a team often sits back and allows members to speak their mind on certain issues. He doesn’t decide on the final decision, and often seeks consensus from the whole team instead.
2. The goals of a workgroup is often set by the leader or the head of the organization, while in a team, the members usually set the goals
An organization often has pre-determined goals that the work group adopts as a part of their plan, but often, a team comes together to decide on its purposes and goals together.
3. In a workgroup, the leader is obvious and he conducts the meeting; while in a team, the members are often actively participating in the discussions.
In a workgroup, members often just give ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers to the leader in the meeting and contributes very little input except when asked.
In a team, members are often actively participating and discussing about the issues at hand, offering their input spontaneously.
This often creates a synergistic solution to many problems as the issue is seen from different perspectives.
4. In a workgroup, the leader assigns work to the members, while in a team, everyone decides together on the work assignments.
Team members often decide democratically with regards to the responsibilities of the task. This is of greater advantage as everyone is clear about their own strengths and weaknesses as compared to a workgroup, where the leader must be extremely clear about his subordinates to achieve the same effect.
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Articles on Team Building
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Getting your team to speak up is probably one of the greatest challenges you will have as a leader. You need to move your team's mindset from the traditional top-down decision making process into the new paradigm.
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