Many people often use the terms group and team interchangeably, but there are differences in the real world corporate applications. We have very often heard many leadership courses often speaking on the importance of the team building events and not the group building events. Some of the differences which can be enumerated between the terms team and the group are as follows: The strength of the team relies on the fact that the members of a team have similarities in the purpose and there is interconnectivity between the individual members and on the other hand the group is larger in number and the group’s strength could be assessed from the fact that they need to be willing to execute the commands of a leader.
It is very easier to form a group than a team for example if you had a room filled with professional doctors then the doctors could be grouped on the basis of their gender, age, specializations or any other common practice. Hence it is very easy to form a group based on some common traits, however the effectiveness of the different groups would not be similar. The interpersonal difference between the different individuals could range from good compatibility to the other extreme level of complete intolerance levels; these interpersonal dynamics within a team can make the consensus within the group a tough task.
On the other hand a team is very difficult to form, as the different members of the team are selected on the basis of the complementary traits rather than the similarities. For instance let’s consider a business team which would consist of accountants, salesmen, manager, supervisor, production heads. Hence the different members within a team have a common purpose but different roles to perform and the overall success depends on the effectiveness of the different interpersonal traits. As such there is not much scope for conflicts between the members of a team.
The group’s success could be assessed by the measurement of the final outcomes and the accomplishment of the objectives. The consensus in the groups could be achieved by discussion, peer influence and arguing on the pros and cons of the decisions. Another good example of a group is trial jury, wherein the first person in favor of the decision tries to make the others to reach at a unanimous decision. As the group members do not know each other there is no chance of group dynamics, and there is rarely an effort to build a team dynamic. Hence the decision process is arrived on the basis of the group co-operation.
