A staff and a team are quite different across a whole host of characteristics. Both can be appropriate ways to organize people to perform a variety of functions, but they are not equal.
If you choose the right circumstances and the right group structure, productivity soars. Treat your team like a staff, however, and you are missing out on a tremendous resource that could be serving your company in a much more powerful way.
Let's examine the differences:
Goals and decisions
Staffs: Made by the boss
Teams: Made jointly by team and boss
Assignments
Staffs: Made by the boss
Teams: Made jointly by the boss and subordinates
Communications
Staffs: In a meeting are primarily between the boss and a subordinate
Teams: Are open among all team members
Role of subordinate
Staffs: Primarily to carry out assignments
Teams: Team members initiate action, make suggestions, and help in planning
Primary virtues
Staffs: Loyalty and being a "good soldier"
Teams: Trust, helping, and creativity
Sharing of data
Staffs: Data shared on the basis of what people feel the boss wants
Teams: All relevant data shared
Critical feedback
Staffs: Rare and anxiety provoking
Teams: Regarded as important to improvement
Differences and conflicts
Staffs: Avoided or smoothed over
Teams: Regarded as enriching, worked through
Work
Staffs: Each staff person responsible for own work
Teams: Team members feel responsible for one another
Goal
Staffs: Boss’s primary goal is to get the job done
Teams: Team leader works to get results and develop team members abilty to contribute.
Call Professional Teambuilding at 1-800-446-4742 and find out more about how our teambuilding, leadership and motivational programs can help you build a more satisfied, motivated and productive workforce.
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