We have grown up hearing the famous saying, there is no I in team, used pretty much everywhere you had to work with others. Whether it was on a sports team, work project, or even at home with your family. There is no way to get around it, there is no way around it. I know that you don’t spell the word team with an I at all, everyone knows that. Team is spelled T.E.A.M not an I in sight. So with that being said why is there an I in group?
Are you confused yet? No you are not going crazy and the spelling didn’t change but there really is an I in group. Let me explain. See a team is just that a team. A group of individuals working together towards a common goal. They play on each other’s strengths and they help each other with their weaknesses. “The complexities of team processes demand the attention and focus of all members of the team.” (Northouse, 2016) There is no one man for himself mentality when it comes to the word team, so why is there an I in the word group?
Groups are a whole different ballgame all together. Same game different players. In a group, ye there are still a cluster of people working together but they each have a different agenda. Some of the players want to sit the bench and ride the coat tails of the go getters. Others are so “on the ball” that they can sometimes be outright annoying. In a group each player is looking out for number 1, themselves. They don’t need the team to get what they want per say, they just basically need to use the rest of the group as a catapult for their information.
I’m not saying that groups are bad because there are times when you truly are part of a group but you long to be a part of a team instead. For instance when you are trying to cook dinner, do homework, and make sure the baby is ok all at the same time while the rest of your family is either glued to their electronic device or watching the TV show that you wanted to watch but couldn’t get everything done in time to do so. In that instance you would love for just one of your family members to come out to the kitchen and ask if you need a helping hand so you could work as a team to get all of the chores done effectively and in a timely manner.
So basically what I am getting at here is really look at the situation that you are put in and see if you want team mates who will help you all earn the goal or do you want a competition because when it comes down to it that is what a group can become and there is defiantly an I in that.
Shadi Nemati says
Stacia,
I think you did a very good job of explaining the difference between a group and a team. From your blog post I clearly understood that a team works together for a common goal, and that a group may be working together, but each member has their own goals. I think that you gave a good example at the end with a person trying to finish multiple chores at once; how they are in a group but their goal of finishing the chores is different from the people whose goals are to watch television or surf the internet. One think I think you could have added right here would have been how a person, or leader, could influence the group members to become part of a team. I think that you set yourself up well to go into detail on this matter. You could have used evidence from the text and the commentary to elaborate on how and when a leader should intervene and how to maintain the team’s functions and performance.
Based on the Hill Model for Team Leadership introduced by Northouse, the overwhelmed family member has a few decisions to make (Northouse, 2016). Do you think that your overwhelmed family member, who is juggling all the chores, should continue to monitor the other member, or should the intervene (I know I would be done monitoring!). Do you think that they should intervene in a way that meets task needs or relational needs? In other words, do you think that they should focus on asking for help with each chore, or should they convey their feelings of stress, in order to motivate the other family members to help reduce the person’s stress level to strengthen their relationship? Or both? The third decision that must be made is if there should be internal or external intervention; should the family member try to improve relationships or should they pursue external support, like from a friend (Northous, 2016)?
I think you could have also touched on how the leader can facilitate team development. This can be done by developing a positive atmosphere and developing cohesion through different types of activities (PSU WC L.9, 2016). This can also be done through making decisions about tasks, such as delegation, making plans and solving problems (PSU WC L.9, 2016). In this particular situation, which function, maintenance or performance, do you think is more important? Do you think that one would be more effective? Do you think one approach would gain faster results than the other?
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice e7. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Penn State World Campus (2016). PSYCH 485: Lesson 9: Team Leadership. Retrieved from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1803831/modules/items/21139905