Ordinarily, any two or more people working together are presumed to be a team. It’s in the details of this working relationship that the elephant in the room stays hidden. Both Teams and Work groups are found in businesses, companies and or organizations due to the nature and complexity of work in today’s world driven by technology. At the face of it, one may not make an obvious distinction owing to the common place use of the words interchangeably. This is a call to move beyond the mere use of the word team as a motivational and energizing tool due to its familiarity and common place to a deeper and meaningful understanding that can drive real performance and results.

“The Devil is in the details”
  At the heart of the issue teams emerge from groups both formal and informal, this could be committees, task forces, coordination groups, political groups etc. However, not all groups are definitively teams simply because someone referred to them as so or they seem to be. The difference  is clear in the performance results, that is in the outcome of their tasks as well as in the way they operate.

Working Groups:
The results are a combination of individual efforts. These are tasks related to the intent of the group and notably no interdependence. For example. In a fund raising effort, the total raised will ultimately be a combination of each mobiliser, in this scenario , the individual efforts add up to one big goal. This activity may lack interdependence and coordination , but the goal is achieved.
Teams:
The results come from both individual and collective efforts. These are tasks that require members to work together, hence bearing the responsibility of success or failure collectively. For example: In the same fund raising, where all mobilisers are led by a common goal and coordinated in their activities, that is structured as a team, they share deliverables, activities  and intent such that their overall achievement can be combined.

The death bed of Teams:
Ordinarily, teams emerge from groups, this is also supported by research which further shows that may groups never advance to team status. The big question is what makes a team?