Group or Team?

Do you work as a group or within a team? The term "team" is overused in organizational environments. I have the advantage of observing a variety of workplace venues, and in my travels into the inner corporate and government sanctums, I witness many more groups than teams, despite the names of the work divisions. One of my coaching clients speaks of his colleagues whose supervisor calls them her "team," almost as if she wishes it and wants it to be, it will. As she micromanages her department by insisting ALL emails go through her, she misses the opportunity to build trust among the members. An employee may respond with "Am I so incompetent that you need to review every communication I produce?" (In responsible management, a supervisor may want certain emails copied with their name, such as upward messages, yet all email seems a waste of time for veteran and competent employees.) One valued and essential charateristic of a team is trust. If the leader displays a lack of trust through micromanaging all the employees, it may be impossible to even forge a group into a team. Groups are made from the outside-- Person A, Person B, Person C, and Person D are assigned to "work together" on Task X. If each person works independently toward the Task completion and under the micromanaging supervisor, the task may get accomplished--but not by a team. A newsworthy insight: Teams are made from the inside out! Shared struggles, strengths, and successes; member accountability; and seamless communication among the members and managerial support for resources will hone a group into a team. The advantage is a team is more efficient than a group. Simply calling a group a team does not make a team.