What is a team and what is a group? All differences

A team is two or more individuals who depend on each other to achieve their goals. Cooperation is essential to achieve the goal - the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. If cooperation is not required, it is not a team but a group.

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Teams exist in all kinds of businesses. A department or a project group at work can be a great team. A healthcare team, a teaching team, a football team or a non-profit board can also be a team. A family with children is also a team. Even pet owners are a team with their dog or horse.

But just as often there are groups of people working simultaneously without being in teams. This is more like a pseudo-team - that is, a collection of people.

Definition of team

The definition of a team is that:

There is a common goal
Members must work together to achieve the goal
The team meets regularly
The team has the right number of members linked to the task
Everyone has a clear role with a responsibility linked to the mandate
Ni know that you are a team
Other see that you are a team
You set aside time to reflect and evaluate together (Link after action review)

The impact of working better together

"Dreamteam" perform better than regular groups, according to research. But what defines a dream team? Everyone in the team likes to go to work on Monday, deliverables are better and members are more creative. The environment is safe, everyone has their place and feels accepted.

So there are many benefits to being able to create great teams.

What is a pseudo team?

Groups that do not meet the above requirements are referred to in research as pseudo-teams. They are only teams on paper but the members do not feel as if they are part of a team.

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What are the characteristics of a pseudo team or group?

It's common for us to work at the same time but not together in our workplaces. This is the hallmark of a pseudo-team or, in short, a group:

A group of individuals without a clear common goal is not a team
If you can manage without each other, you are not a team
If you don't work as a single unit, don't meet regularly, don't coordinate and evaluate your efforts together, you are not a team
Groups that are too small or too large for the mission are not teams
If roles and mandates are unclear, conflicts can easily arise and it is difficult to work as a team
If you don't feel like a team and if others don't see you as a team, you are not a team

**Effects of not working together**

Working in pseudo-teams has been shown to increase stress in several studies in the healthcare sector. The number of work errors is higher in this group than in real, well-functioning teams. Injuries also increased.