There is some confusion about the difference between a group and a team; traditionally academics, communication and management theorists use the terms: group, group-working, group-interaction, group-structure etc. to refer to the dynamics of people working together towards a common cause.

The word group however has a broader meaning – a group of passengers on a flight have a common characteristic – to travel, but they are not necessarily working towards a common cause. Groups do not even need to refer to people, for example, a group of products in a supermarket, in this case the group is arbitrary and could be defined by any number of variables.

A team is more specific. We would not refer to our airline passengers as a team unless they crashed on a desert island and needed to work together to survive. The distinction is that a team is working together for a common cause. A group of schoolchildren may be in the same class, whereas a team of schoolchildren may be working together on a specific project within the class.

When we talk about groups and teams, we use the terms interchangeably – it is possible to have a group without a team but not a team without a group.  Although we use the word team throughout this section, we use the following definition of group:

A group is a collection of people with some common characteristics or purpose.

• A group can consist of any number of people.
• People in groups interact, engage, and identify with each other, often at regular or pre-determined times and places.
• The group members share beliefs, principles, and standards about areas of common interest, and they come together to work on common tasks for agreed purposes and outcomes.
• People in groups are defined by themselves and by others as group members, in other words individuals are aware that they are part of a group.