M2.04 Developing the Work Team
Reflective Review

Understand the nature of teams and the features of team roles and responsibilities including the advantages and disadvantages

Q1. How does a team differ from a group? Give 3 examples of the differences.

A team and a group are often classed as the same, but they are in fact completely different entities.
Three of the main differences are
Trust
Leadership
Working towards a shared common goal

• Trust – In a team there are high levels of trust which enables members to express ideas and opinions freely and confidently. This allows feelings to be discussed and also will conflict can be resolved due to this. In a group there is usually a lower level of trust between
One advantage for using a team is that it enables members to train others in the team allowing them to broaden there skills and also share knowledge of different types of work to create a greater knowledge pool within the team. This will allow team members to become more flexible in the tasks they can do, which can lead to increased productivity and work loads decreasing due to more people having the skills to complete different tasks.

Another advantage is that teams are able to make decisions themselves, rather than waiting for a decision being made for them. This helps the team to become more efficient due to potential obstacles being overcome through collective decision making. Also a team like this would require less supervision due to people higher up trusting them, through the results they are achieving, decreasing costs due to the wages saved from not having a supervisor overlooking them.

A disadvantage to using a team in an organisation is that conflict can arise between members of the team. This can be caused by a clash of personalities between team members, a disagreement in a decision making situation or, as team members work at different speeds conflict can arise if someone is perceived as “not pulling their weight”. This will create a negative working environment and results and productivity will suffer as a result.

Another disadvantage is that teams can become stuck in mindset of how to approach work and not entertain the idea