Groups & Teams

Groups and Teams

There is no "I" in team. This adage has been used by parents, coaches, and managers to shape and motivate the behavior of various groups and teams throughout the years. There is one major difference between a group and a team: accountability. Group members are accountable to each other, but each member is individually held responsible for their own performance. In a team, all members share accountability as a unit. The success or failure of either can be highly dependent upon various issues. Synergy, demographics, and cultural diversity greatly influence how a group becomes a high-performance team, the behavior of the team, and team dynamics.

Groups must posses and demonstrate strong values, mutual commitment, diverse skills, and creativity to become a high-performance team (Schermerhorn et al., 2005, p. 294). Values represent an individual's perception of what they feel is right or wrong. They are reflective of a group's standards, beliefs, and principles. The values of each group member affect their attitudes and behaviors when communicating and interacting with the group. For example, a group of people is assembled to complete an analysis on the growing trend of child obesity in today's society. The group consists of one Hispanic, one African American, one Asian, and two Caucasians. In their initial meeting, the group discovers that each member has numerous viewpoints on the subject. Member's opinions are based mostly on their cultural backgrounds and upbringing. In turn, this enables the group to approach their research in different ways. Commitment refers to the act of obligation to a specific duty or undertaking. Group members must be committed to the attainment of performance objectives to ensure success (Schermerhorn et al., 2005, p. 294). Although each member may have a different task to focus on or accomplish and is accountable for their own performance, they may still be dependent upon the group to successfully complete the project. At New Beginnings Academy, a government-funded Texas preschool, the director has brought together a group of teachers that are responsible for educating the students. In order to receive funding from the government, each year the school must pass at least 70% of the pupils on to kindergarten. When one teacher fails to execute all objectives in the syllabus for their class, the school suffers as a whole. Without the total commitment of each teacher to the primary goal, the school will not receive the necessary funding. Skills refer to the aptitude to learn new things and the capacity to apply them appropriately and proficiently. Groups should be comprised of members with a variety of skills, including the ability to think analytically and critically and the ability to interact or communicate effectively in a group setting (Schermerhorn et al., 2005, p. 294). For instance, at fast food restaurants, each job description requires a certain set of skills. Cashiers must be able to manage the cash drawer, receive customer's orders, and accurately process monetary transactions. Cooks must be able to read quickly, contend with several incoming orders, and understand the procedures for handling food properly. Both positions are required to interact with each other to fulfill customers' orders. While these jobs require different skill sets and abilities, each job is dependent upon the other to accomplish the goal of serving the customer in a timely, satisfactory manner. Creativity can simply be described as the ability to create. It is one of the most important assets of any group and a key means of conveying fresh ideas and viewpoints (Schermerhorn et al., 2005, p. 295). In a group lacking creativity, the exchange of ideas is often stale and repetitive, with concepts that are mostly salvaged and recycled. Evolving into a high-performance team requires a group to demonstrate values, commitment, skills, and creativity.

Group behavior is considerably impacted by demographic characteristics and cultural diversity. Gender, race, age, able-bodiedness, ethnicity, and sexual orientation comprise workplace diversity and demographics (Schermerhorn et al., 2005, p. 25-26). The ability to collaborate on a project, despite their differences, is an important aspect for an effective team. Once members have the opportunity to recognize and understand their differences, along with their strengths and weaknesses, they will be able to capitalize on the diversity within the team. When employees feel their demographic is properly