Instructor
A workgroup defines two or more people who perform tasks and work independently to gain accomplishments (Torugsa & Arundel, 2016). Workgroups can function as either dependent workgroups, independent workgroups, or interdependent workgroups. A work team defines a group of individuals who perform tasks together to achieve a specific goal. Most goals in work teams are usually mutually shared by the team members. There are very many traits that help differentiate a workgroup from a work team. The individuals who work in work teams interact to share information while members of a work team perform tasks collectively. Workgroup members perform independent tasks; hence the performance of the whole group reflects the contribution of each member. A work team’s performance does not necessarily reflect individual inputs. Workgroups have solid and focused leaders who manage the workers, while work teams do not necessarily need leaders as each member performs shared roles. The team leader helps and involves team members in creating goals and plans for work.
Workgroups perform their task to attain the organization’s goals, while work teams have their own goals which they work together to perform. Knowing whether a group of people is working as a workgroup of the work team will depend on the type of leadership. Workgroups have a boss or a supervisor whose primary task is to monitor others’ work. Workers also perform their tasks independently. A work team has a leader who works together with other members and does not necessarily act as a boss (Kozlowski et al., 2016). The work that each team member does is dependent on the other. Some examples of workgroups include workers in an educational facility. Each member performs their tasks and reports to an overall director like the principal. An example of a work team can include members of a project management team. The members work together to attain the same goal.
References
Kozlowski, S. W., Mak, S., & Chao, G. T. (2016). Undefined. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 3(1), 21-54. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-041015-062429
Torugsa, N. A., & Arundel, A. (2016). The nature and incidence of Workgroup innovation in the Australian public sector: Evidence from the Australian 2011 state of the service survey. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 75(2), 202-221. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12095
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