Groups or teams?

Abstract

In the complex practice of project management, the most important role is given to groups and teams. Initially, this article introduces the reader to the main differences between groups and teams in the project management field itself, explaining how the members interact and coordinate the tasks assigned, and generally observing how the project manager is involved in the two different cases.

Subsequently, according to Katzenbach and Smith (1993), the focus is switched to the impact that groups, or teams can have on a project in terms of performance and effectiveness. In this paragraph, a deep explanation of the features of different types of teams is provided. In addition, following the team performance curve, the attention is paid on the path that leads working groups to become high-performing teams.

At this point, it results important to explain, according to an adapted model of David Casey (1993), when the organizations ought to choose a group instead of a team for managing a project. The crucial role is played by uncertainty, which is a clear indicator of when a team is needed, or if the “individual bests” of a group are enough to face the intricacies of the project.

But how is a team created and which phases a team go through during its development? The Tuckman-Jensen’s model is introduced, guiding the reader to the Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing-Adjourning steps of the model. This model, indeed, is correlated to the Katzenbach and Smith (1993) one, previously mentioned.

Eventually, possible issues within the team and groups are discussed. This is the case, in particular, of social loafing and groupthink , opposite situations that can occur when working in a project, but which lead to the same, counter-productive, results. This last part is followed by a final reflection of what argued in the whole article.