The most effective teamwork is produced when all the individuals involved harmonize their contributions and work towards a common goal.  How can you accomplish this in your organization? 

A good place to start is to understand the difference between employees working in groups or working in teams.  Once you know what to look for, you can evaluate whether your organization is focusing on the most effective approach to projects.

Here are some suggestions followed by an explanation of some subtle differences that mean a lot.

Have the members establish the goals.

In group projects, members tend to focus more on their personal role since they were not involved in the creation of the goals.  Team members, on the other hand, tend to take ownership of the goal because they were a part of creating it.

Encourage collaboration.

Groups run in a way that typically assigns a task to a member and doesn’t encourage suggestions outside of his or her area of expertise.  Teams, because they are aligned with the overall goal, are focused on taking advantage of the talent and experience of all members.

Have the members work interdependently, not independently.

Group members tend to work independently on their task to the detriment of the overall desired goal.  Many times they are unable to see the desired goal beyond their own role.  This means they cannot support other group members because they don’t understand how it fits into the big picture.  Team members understand that while they have personal goals, the end result will be met by mutual support.

Be extremely clear when defining objectives to instill trust.

Group members are given a task but tend to be very cautious in communication simply because they don’t fully understand what is going on within the group.  They don’t trust that their suggestions are relevant or that anyone in the group will want to hear them.  Conversely, teams operate in a way where feedback, questions, and varying opinions are encouraged.  In addition, if group members don’t understand the ultimate objectives, they may suspect the motives of the members.  On teams, objectives are clear and there is not a question of motive because the members understand each other’s roles.

Assign a leader, but reiterate that this is a team effort.

Groups tend to value conformity more than positive results.  This is due to all the factors listed above.  In groups, the members participate less and assume that the leader will make all final decisions, whereas teams value results.  Team members understand that if consensus is not reached, the leader will hold the final vote, but that an improved solution will occur because of the exchange of ideas and that each member is important to the process.

Does your organization work in groups or teams?  In your opinion, is one more effective than the other?