What? In Group Dynamics for Teams, Levi explains how a team is different than a group. “A team is a special type of group in which people work interdependently to accomplish a goal.”(Levi). Levi talks about how teams have been used for work for a very long time but explains how in recent decades, the use of organizational teamwork has changed with the different nature of our jobs and job structures. Groups are large, but definitive in what they are whether it be a religion or organization like Scouts; whereas, teams are much smaller and are working towards a common goal like completing a project or winning a game. Active Collab talks about the differences in teams by stating “A group is a collective of mutually independent individuals with separate goals who are brought together by common interests and experience… A team is an interdependent group of individuals who share responsibility and are focused on a common goal.”(Moga). It obvious how different groups are from teams.
So What? Why implement teams in the workplace rather than large groups? According to Potential, teamwork creates an atmosphere that flourishes in friendship and loyalty, as well as implementing different ideas, talents, skills, habits, strengths as well as weaknesses. Having a specified team of people within an organization can help lots when productivity as well as creativity. In Group Dynamics for Teams, Levi defines a successful team as: “A successful team completes its task, maintains good social relations, and promotes its members’ personal and professional development.”(Levi). Having this mentality of keeping members of your team growing is vital in the ever changing work environments around us now a days, this helps keep productivity up as well as creating a comradery with in the team to get tasks done.
Now What? Now that we have clear-cut evidence that teams work far better in work settings, more organizations should be implementing teams into the workplace. There are already many organizations and workplaces that implement teamwork. According to Forbes, many organizations have already implemented teams, and those who have not “92% of the companies Deloitte surveyed cited “redesigning the way we work” as one of their key challenges, making this the #1 trend of the year. If you look at the research, you find that companies already operate this way. Only 24% of large companies (>5,000 employees) claim to be functionally organized and only 38% overall. We naturally run our businesses in sales teams, manufacturing plants, retail stores, product groups, service teams, and geographically independent operations.”(Bersin). Productivity is necessary in organizations this day and age, having teams will boost this. Overall implementing teams is already happening, but creating more of a jump start for all organizations to implement this is needed to boost productivity in the workplace as well as making employees happier at work, since their ideas are more likely to be implemented in smaller teams rather than a large group with so many ideas that its hard to take them all in.
Refrences:
Bersin, J. (2016, March 3). New Research Shows Why Focus On Teams, Not Just Leaders, Is Key To Business Performance. Retrieved February 5, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2016/03/03/why-a-focus-on-teams-not-just-leaders-is-the-secret-to-business-performance/#2077748524d5
Levi, D. (2017). Group dynamics for teams. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Moga, B. (2017, June 14). Group vs Team [Differences, Comparison, Transformation] · Activecollab Blog. Retrieved February 5, 2020, from https://activecollab.com/blog/collaboration/group-vs-team
Wehbe, S. (2018, April 17). 5 Important Reasons Why Teamwork Matters. Retrieved from https://www.potential.com/articles/5-important-reasons-why-teamwork-matters/
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