What is the difference between a GROUP and a TEAM? A group can be formed by a collection of people with something in common, such as gender, interest, or religion. Forming a team is much more difficult. A group qualifies as a team only if its members focus on helping one another to accomplish organizational objectives. There is no "I" in "TEAMWORK", which means everyone has to contribute to the goal set by all members.
Nowadays, no one can work on his or her own. The massive workload requires collaboration of people in order to achieve the goal. Therefore, mastering the skills to successfully work in team is a must.
For example, the first priority when doing teamwork is that members of the team have to set up the rules for the team. Though it may be uneasy at first, it will help the team easily solve problems occurred later. Chances are that the conflicts arise during the working process (in fact, they always do); all that the members have to do is to do their utmost to obey the rules and contribute to the teamwork.
There are many other skills that are essential to the success of teamwork, such as communication skill, discussion skill, and so on. Some of them can be learned through reading material. However, as people say, practice makes perfect. One can only enhance his or her skill by really apply what is learned to reality. By that way, the skills can be more and more sharpened; and the outcome of the work will become more and more fruitful.
I was really impressed when watching this video. It was the result of amazing teamwork: everyone contributing to the success of the show, no one being allowed to stand out of the crowd or to be the star. The synchronization was purely fascinating.
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REFERENCE
1. Teamwork (Image): http://www.toastmasters.org/OtherImages/Teamwork.aspx
2. Team Work: Birds or People? Find Out (Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF80RqLkl6E
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REFERENCE
1. Teamwork (Image): http://www.toastmasters.org/OtherImages/Teamwork.aspx
2. Team Work: Birds or People? Find Out (Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF80RqLkl6E
6 comments:
Hello Frank,
I must admit that after reading your post, it got me thinking. The difference between a team and a group is as you had mentioned; a group consists of people who has something in common whereas for a team, it is a more diverse mix. Adding to that idea, I believe that explains why conflicts usually arise in a team as it is made up of individuals who do not share a similar mindset over a particular concept or view. This circumstance could act as a double-edge sword.
On the one hand, it is clearly important to agree to disagree as without a variety of viewpoints, a homogeneous train of thought is not exactly a stimulating environment for innovation and creativity. However, too many conflicts could lead to a hostile and tense environment which would impair the team's dynamics and adversely affect the team’s performance. Hence, it is immensely crucial to be able to strike a balance in this matter.
One method by which we could strike that balance is by learning how to manage conflicts which would be taught in our conflict management lesson. I honestly believe that lesson will provide us fresh insight and equip us with the necessary skill set to handle conflicts. However, I am a realist and I know that a 2 hour lesson would not be the golden ticket to resolving all conflicts. Despite that, I believe given sufficient time and experience, we all would be proficient in managing conflict.
Khairul
Hi Frank,
Your post has mainly focussed on teamwork and I truly agree with you on many of the points mentioned. It also left me remembering some of my past experiences.
As you have mentioned, there is no “I” in teamwork. I feel that many of us tend to overlook this point when we are assigned a task as a team. We often start by allocating tasks among members and never really work together as a team. From my personal experience, some members would rather focus on their personal achievement when allocated a task to them and insist on isolating themselves in order to achieve a personal sense of satisfaction that they desire. Perhaps, it was unintentional on their part but I find that it is the entire team that suffers when a member does not actively participate in the team discussions or planning. Hence, I agree that we should establish a form of understanding and set the rules before the start of the project. Of course, it is crucial that the members abide by the rules unless a valid reason could be provided for breaking any of them.
Moreover, I agree that we are learning to improve our personal skills through the many hands on applications that we have done such as Project work during our A levels. Nobody understands you better than yourself so it is only right that one puts in the effort to change one’s behaviour and attitude if he discovers his own flaws or when he receives feedback from his peers.
It was enjoyable reading your post!
Best regards,
Win Yee
hello Frank
I am very happy to read your blog. Your blog is quite interesting. You mention that a group can be formed by a collection of people with something in common, such as gender, interest, or religion. For this point, I have a different point of view from you. In my opinion, the main different that differentiate a team and a group is that the term team is a higher level than group. Normally, what a group does is just some small or maybe trivial projects and whereas a team need to handle big projects. Besides that, a group normally is only formed by 5 or 6 people and whereas a team should be formed by more people. For example in a constructing company, a team is formed by different organizations, such as departments of design, drawing, engineering and etc and they form a team for the project. Each department of this team is called group. For example, two or three people who come from the engineering department are called group.
Besides that, I am quite agreeing with you that nowadays, often we need to work in team. Hence, let us do well in this course of communication and teamwork.
Best regards,
Siming
Hi Frank,
Your post has clearly explained the importance of teamwork. As rightly pointed out, all groups cannot become a team. A group qualifies to become a team only when the members of the group are interdependent. I personally feel that effective communication plays a vital role for a team to achieve its goal.
I like the statement “There is no I in TEAMWORK” as it tells us that, for a teamwork to be effective members of the team must together contribute to their best. Teamwork is essential for competing in today’s global arena and for the teamwork to be effective, members in team must effectively communicate so as to express their plans, share their ideas and understand each other viewpoints clearly. Apart from effective communication, for the teamwork to be effective the members of team should be well committed and the team leader should be a role model to the other members.
Clearly effective communication and teamwork doesn’t come in a single day and it needs a lot of hard work to be put in.
It is a pleasure to read your blog and the video you used in your post clearly explains the importance of teamwork.
Regards,
Santhosh
Hi Frank,
You highlighted a very meaningful quote, “There is no ‘I’ in ‘TEAMWORK’.” It is amazing how true this quote is. Just as we have learned in our CG1413 class, the main focus of a team is the objective of the team. There are no personal agenda that the team members are pursuing. Everyone works for the benefit of the whole team. As in soccer and most sports, the name written in front of the jersey is more important than the number and name that is written at the back. This is the unique thing that sets a team apart from a group.
I strongly agree to your idea of setting up rules or guidelines within a team. In this manner, a standard is developed that is presented to everyone. This standard will define what is expected from each member. More importantly, this set of guidelines will serve as a starting point for everyone to follow and abide by and come back to when one is lost.
The video is very entertaining and at the same time enlightening. It was able to record a history of soccer teamwork and how each contributed to reaching for a soccer goal.
Keep posting enjoyable reads!
Regards,
Paul
Hi Frank,
Indeed a very interesting post. It is very interesting to note the difference you brought out between a group and a team. I still remember how in school, we always formed groups (which included our friends) and proclaimed it to be a team (where too small to know the difference between the two then).
“There is no I in teamwork”. It is truly amazing to note how this one line brings out the meaning and the importance of teamwork. Makes you realize that while working in a team one has to set aside personal differences to succeed as a team as a team is interdependent.
You are actually so true in pointing out that with the workload these days, no one can work alone and complete a job on his own. One definitely needs to work in team. Even in this semester we have to work in groups to complete our lab work, which we happily did individually in the previous semester (just as an example, not trying to sound scary mate!).
One point which I feel you could have included in your post is drawing a relation between effective communication and proper team work.
Anyways it is a thought provoking post. And by the way, nice video. Cheers up the word after doing all the hard work. :P
Regards,
Saurabh Arora
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