Differences between Group and Team - Essay Example

In reviewing and comparing the elements of definitions of team and group, one could deduce that the main distinguishing factor that differentiates a group from a team is the mutual accountability in a team as compared to individual accountability in a group.

In the article written by Katzenback & Smith (2005), the authors identified four distinct elements of an effectively performing team to include the following: (1) common purpose and commitment; (2) complementary skills; (3) performance goals; and (4) mutual accountability. Thus, to compare the elements with those related merely to groups, one could infer that groups have similarities in terms of sharing a common purpose or group goal; members could have complementary skills; but this is not necessarily a requirement; the performance goals are monitored as to the level of progress depending on a defined time frame to complete a project, a presentation, or a defined endeavor; and finally, there is more individual accountability, where members’ progress and successful performance of delegated roles, tasks, and responsibilities are the basis for measuring performance and success. These elements were likewise corroborated by Mackin (2007) who added that decisions in groups were made through voting; while decisions in teams were usually made from the consensus of the members.

On the website of Leadership Development Coaching, the comparative differences between a group and a team were evaluated and classified according the implications to the leaders, as noted: (1) determination of focus on responsibility where accountability in teams were considered a mutual and collective effort versus the groups’ individual accountability; (2) ownership of outcome or results: in teams, the final outcome is shared by the whole teams; while in groups, each individual member accounts for  one’s outcome but the leader bears the overall weight of the aggregate results of all collective members; (3) the behavior of members differ where team exhibits innate and genuine effort to assist members whose performance could be low and could significantly affect the overall performance of the team; whereas in groups, the each member is not innately responsible to take care of the responsibilities of  other members since performance is measured on the basis of individual results; (4) behavior of leader apparently are similar for both groups and teams in terms of commitment towards ensuring that all members collaborately perform since the leader is always assessed on the basis of the outcome; (5) emergence of self-managing teams where leaders realize that as groups form into cohesive collection of people, members become more empowered to relay crucial inputs that are deemed contributory to their success – a facet shared in high performing teams; and (6) leadership roles becoming more complex and emerging from specific instances; where the emergence of more varied roles are possible in both teams and groups. For instance, when conflicts arise, leaders assume roles as conflict negotiators or arbiters, as needed; or assume roles as coaches and mentors when required. Thus, overall, the role of a leader in a group is more of a facilitator, who discusses, delegates, and decides; as opposed to the leader’s role in a team where, as noted, the leadership role is shared or rotated to ensure collaboration and mutual accountability, as emphasized (Feltham, 2010).