What Is The Difference Between A Team And A Group?

Proving Ground

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00:00What is the difference between a team and a group?

00:03Many people use the words team and group interchangeably, but there are actually a number of differences

00:09between them in real-world applications.

00:12A number of leadership courses designed for the corporate world stress the importance

00:16of team building, not group building, for instance.

00:20A team's strength depends on the commonality of purpose and interconnectivity between individual

00:25members, whereas a group's strength may come from sheer volume or willingness to carry

00:30out a single leader's commands.

00:32It is often much easier to form a group than a team.

00:36If you had a room filled with professional accountants, for example, they could be grouped

00:40according to gender, experience, fields of expertise, age, or other common factors.

00:47Forming a group based on a certain commonality is not particularly difficult, although the

00:52effectiveness of the groups may be variable.

00:55A group's interpersonal dynamics can range from complete compatibility to complete intolerance,

01:01which could make consensus building very difficult for a leader.

01:05A team, on the other hand, can be much more difficult to form.

01:10Members may be selected for their complementary skills, not a single commonality.

01:15A business team may consist of an accountant, a salesman, a company executive, and a secretary,

01:21for example.

01:23Each member has a purpose and a function, so the overall success depends on a functional

01:28interpersonal dynamic.

01:30There is usually not as much room for conflict when working together in this way.

01:35The success of a group is often measured by its final results, not necessarily the process

01:40used to arrive at those results.

01:43A group may use equal parts discussion, argumentation, and peer pressure to guide individual members

01:49towards a consensus.

01:51A trial jury would be a good example of a group in action, not a team.

01:56The foreperson plays the leadership role, attempting to turn eleven other opinions into

02:01one unanimous decision.

02:03Since the jury members usually don't know one another personally, there is rarely an

02:07effort to build a team dynamic.

02:10The decision process for a verdict is the result of group cooperation.

02:14A team, by comparison, does not rely on groupthink to arrive at its conclusions.

02:21An accident investigation team would be a good example of a real-world team dynamic.

02:27Each member is assigned to evaluate one aspect of the accident.

02:31The expert on crash scene reconstruction does not have to consult with the expert on forensic

02:36evidence, for example.

02:38The members use their individual abilities to arrive at a cohesive result.

02:43There may be a team member working as a facilitator for the process, but not necessarily a specific

02:48leader.

02:50Group building can literally take only a few minutes, but team building can take years.

02:56Individual members of a group often have the ability to walk away when their services or

03:00input become unnecessary.

03:03A team member's absence can seriously hamper the abilities of other members to perform

03:08effectively, so it is not uncommon for individual members to form an exceptionally strong allegiance

03:14to the team as a whole.

03:16An elite military unit such as the U.S. Navy SEALs or the Army Rangers could be considered

03:21an example of team building at its best.

03:24For more clear, concise answers to common and not-so-common questions, visit the Conjecture

03:29Corporation website.

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