In a business, managers frequently form groups or teams to complete work. There is a connection between task-oriented groups and true teams in that task-oriented groups can become true teams if they mature in how they work and interact. Looking at the differences between a task-oriented group and teamwork helps managers see how much a group has developed for this reason.
In a task-oriented group, there usually is one leader who delegates. The leader assigns tasks and keeps everybody moving toward the goal. When there is true teamwork, however, each person leads and delegates in his own way. People take advice and direction from each other, recognizing the skills, abilities and insights each person has. For example, if one person is responsible for the group's documentation and another is responsible for investigating the viability of ideas, both individuals can ask other members of the group to produce specific records or initiate specific contacts based on the access to the data and people group members have.
Purpose and Mission
In a task-oriented group, it usually is the leader or the person who forms the group who defines its purpose and mission. This leader or group former presses his concept for the group on the other members. When people engage in work as a team, by contrast, each member of the group contributes ideas about what the group should be doing and why. If someone in the group wants to change its mission, all of the group members have to support the change.
In a task-oriented group, the leader tells other members of the group which tasks to complete and how. When the group is successful, the leader can take credit as a result. Conversely, others also blame him if the group fails at what it is trying to accomplish. Group members sometimes are tempted to give less than they are capable of giving because they understand the leader will bear the brunt of outside judgment. With a team, the primary leader still can take some blame or credit, but the individual members of the team do, as well. Team members expect each other to help each other and do their best and don't allow each other to slough off.
Task-oriented groups put blame or praise primarily on the leader of the group. When someone audits the group and tries to determine effectiveness, he thus looks mainly at how the leader managed it. In a team, the evaluator measures effectiveness by looking at what the team has done collectively. Because the evaluator views members of a team as interconnected in this way, failure of one team member to meet goals can have an adverse impact on the entire group's evaluation.
When a person is in a task-oriented group, the team leader pushes him to solve problems and get things done. In a team, the members accept problem solving as a way of life and do it more automatically. They seek solutions individually for the good of the team and do it often.
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