Teams and Groups An extraordinary team is valuable to any organization. The purpose of assembling a team is to accomplish bigger goals than any that would be possible for the individual working alone. The goal of a team is to execute and attain victory in the workplace and marketplace. This paper will elaborate on both the characteristics of effective teams and on effective groups.
Teams
A team is a group of individuals which must come together to collaborate on a particular issue (Growing an Effective Team ,1997). The group effort is to attain a mutual task for which the group will be mutually responsible (Growing an Effective Team ,1997). “A team is considered to be a group of individuals with a lofty degree of interdependence geared towards the achievement of a common goal or completion of a task rather than just a group for administrative convenience (Growing an Effective Team ,1997).” Members of team are extremely dedicated to each other's personal development and achievement (Growing an Effective Team , 1997). “A team outperforms a group and outperforms all reasonable expectations given to its individual members (Growing an Effective Team ,1997).” “A team has a cooperative result (Growing an Effective Team ,1997).” Team members cooperate in all aspects of their tasks and goals (Growing an Effective Team ,1997). ” Team members contribute to the following management functions, such as planning and organizing (Growing an Effective Team ,1997). A team provides two main benefits for any association:

1. All individuals of the team are aided by all the other members of the team (Growing an Effective Team ,1997). A success or failure is felt by all members of the team (Growing an Effective Team ,1997). “Successes are felt by every team member, this helps them to set and achieve bigger and better successes (Growing an Effective Team ,1997).” “In addition, failure is perceived as a learning lesson (Growing an Effective Team ,1997).”
2. A team’s production is excellent (Growing an Effective Team ,1997). A team can generally exceed the performance of a group of individuals (Growing an Effective Team,1997).
Groups
Organized groups are characteristically those groups which surpass at attending to tasks, values, and initiating confidence in one another (Likert, 1961). Groups which are successful understand the benefits of group work which includes developing innovative ideas, distributing tribulations, creating solutions, and coordinating efforts (Likert, 1961). Some characteristics of effective work groups includes: the group must classify a clear and concise mission and vision statement; the group’s climate must be comfortable, calm, and stress-free. There should be no obvious signs of tension or boredom within the group (Likert, 1961). Everyone should be encouraged to participate in discussions. Each member of the group should use helpful listening strategies such as questioning and summarizing so that each group member’s idea is considered (Likert, 1961). The members of the group must realize that conflicts between group members and is a normal routine. Group members should not try to detour from conflict (Likert, 1961). Members of the group should be free to discuss their personal ideas in reference to the groups

task and assignments (Likert, 1961). The group should define clear expectations of what each group member’s roles should be (Likert, 1961). There should be clear expectations of each group member roles (Likert, 1961). Work should also be evenly distributed among the members of the team.
Conclusion
A team is a group of individuals who must come together to complete a particular task (Growing an Effective Team ,1997).” In order to be an effective team, the individuals must aid all members on the team (Growing an Effective Team ,1997).” They must also feel the success or failure of the group as a whole, and the production must be excellent (Growing an Effective Team ,1997).” A group is a composite of individuals with a mission, value and goal in mind. Characteristics of an effective work group include: promoting a comfortable and stress free environment and being able to handle conflicts when presented with one. Conflict resolution is also a characteristic of an effective work group.

References

Establishing an Effective Work Group. (2009). Retrieved from The Higher education
Academy : www.ukcle.ac.uk/resources/groups/three.html

Growing an Effective Team . (1997, May 24). Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadtem.html

Likert, R. (1961). Likert's Charateristics of an Effective Work Group . Retrieved from New Patterns of Management : www.people.vcu.edu