Team Tactics: The Critical Difference between Groups and Teams

The Critical Difference between Groups and Teams
by Sharon Feltham, Excellerate

The word “team” is a convenient label for almost any collection of people who assemble together for whatever purpose or period of time and yet there is a vast difference between these groups and the world of a real team.

Understanding the fundamental differences between work groups and real teams is essential. It helps us to lead, manage, develop and participate in the team more effectively while avoiding many of the problems associated with teams. This insight equips leaders and team members with the ability to unleash a team’s immense potential and in doing so experience the deeply satisfying rewards of membership.

The Difference between Groups and Teams
Calling a collection of people a team and rallying them to the cause does not make them a team. Real teams have design features and characteristics that set them apart from groups. Katzenbach and Smith⁽¹⁾ summed this up neatly with their definition of a team:

A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to
A common purpose
Set of performance goals
A common approach
For which they hold themselves mutually accountable

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The Critical Difference between Groups and Teams

The Key Elements of a Real Team

Small Number of People
Teams by their very nature can't be big therefore a real team has a definable membership, typically fewer than 12. (Refer to our Team Tactics  article “Does size matter?)

Complementary Skills
Teams bring together complementary skills and experience that exceed those of any individual on the team. The different perspectives, knowledge, skills and strengths of each member are identified and used, by comparison most groups are extremely rigid, members usually have assigned roles and tasks that don’t change. Teams however are flexible performing different task and maintenance functions as required. Roles and tasks may change depending upon the expertise and experience most pertinent to the work being performed

Performance Goals
Members share the common task and have clearly defined objectives for which members are individually and collectively accountable

Common Approach
A team has sense of shared purpose with a clear understanding of what constitutes the team's mission. They can describe a vivid picture of what the team needs to achieve, and the norms and values that will guide them.

The actions of members are interdependent and coordinated. Members have a shared sense of unity and consciously identify with the team and each other. Individuals use "we" rather than "me."

Mutually Accountable
A group typically produces products that are the sum of individual member contributions whereas a team develops products that are a result of the team's collective effort.

In groups, members are individually accountable for their efforts where in real teams members need the help of one another to accomplish the purpose for which they joined the group. They are individually and collectively accountable for the timeliness and quality of the team's products. If members answer to the boss instead of to one another, then you have a work group not a real team.

Leadership
Typically a work group has a strong leader, in a traditional management role, who directs activities, assigns tasks and establishes schedules. Where the team leader makes all the critical decisions it’s a single leader unit not a real team.

By contrast, teams share or rotate leadership among individual members. They will also rotate less desired tasks, such as record keeping, so that no one member is permanently assigned to a less challenging or interesting activity.

The Characteristics of a Real Team

Characteristics of a Work Group

• Shared Leadership roles

• Strong, clearly focused leader solo leader

• Team discusses, decides, and does real work together

• The Leader discusses, decides and delegates

• Specific Team purpose that the team delivers itself

• The group’s purpose is the same as the organizational mission

• Individual and mutual team accountability

• Individual Accountability

• Collective work products

• Individual work products

• Measures performance directly by assessing collective work products

• Measures effectiveness indirectly eg financial performance of the business

• Encourages open-ended discussion and active problem-solving meetings

• Runs efficient meetings with information sharing main activity

How to Work with this

The distinction between work groups and real teams is very important. If a leader or group or their organization fails to recognize the difference as an issue there can be significant consequences:

1. The group cannot determine whether they are properly organized to accomplish what the organization needs from them.

2. They cannot correctly assess their performance potential.

3. They cannot choose the appropriate strategies to manage or grow the group.

If the status of the group and what it aspires to be is unclear then it is important to guide the group through an evaluation. Use the following steps to help you do this:

List the characteristics on a flip chart and explain them to the group

Discuss and rate collectively to what degree do each of these characteristics apply to the group, using a 1-5 scale from "totally" to "not at all"

Reference 1. Katzenbach, J.R., Smith, D.K., The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization, Harper Business, 1993.

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Excellerate’s targetted team learning provides Leaders and their teams with a deeper understanding of team dynamics and systems, along with the tools and skills to guide the development of a highly effective and productive work team. Contact Excellerate for a confidential obligation free consultation to determine how we can work with you to engage the talent and turn the potential of your team into extraordinary performance. Call 0800 EXCELNZ (NZ only) or Email Us