If your role as manager is to assign work, monitor the results of each person, and ensure uniform process and action, and the individual members are dependent on the manager, this is clearly a workgroup. If the individual members have identical or even similar job descriptions, and are largely independent of each other in delivering results, you probably have a workgroup. If one person is absent from work, others are not prevented from completing their tasks, although the quantity of work done will be diminished. Results are usually focused on individuals, with some persons delivering higher quantity and/or quality than others.

In my early years at Microsoft, delivering phone support for customers, I was definitely a part of a workgroup. My input and influence on the direction of the group was minimal, and other than specific collaboration resources available to me, it was up to me to deliver my own results and meet the expectations of my manager.

If the members of your group are dependent on each other to bring together specific pieces of the final product or service, you have a team. The success of the team depends on each person bringing their part of the puzzle to the table so that it can be assembled or fashioned into the desired end result. This is most often seen with products, although they may not be tangible, which is the case with software and technical services. A classic example would be a hospital, where physicians, nurses, pharmacists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, therapists, and many more people, including business office and building staff, must work together to deliver a “return to health” for a sick person. And within that larger team, there are many smaller teams who must work effectively.

As a manager, I was definitely a member of a team, which was tasked with delivering specific business results for the company and for our customers. I did this by leading what were really hybrid teams/workgroups, who required a lot of interdependence to do their jobs effectively. No one was successful by being a lone ranger, but interacted with peers, who might be geographically dispersed, and yet were part of the same team. A key success factor for me was to realize what team I was a member of—which was my “first team,” to use Patrick Lencioni’s language. While having a critically important relationship with my direct report team, my “first team” was my peer managers, and my first loyalty was to share and support the goals and results of that team.

For additional perspective, see Differences between Work Groups and Teams by Martin Brounstein, author of Managing Teams for Dummies, as well as the classic, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, still a best seller after 13 years of publication.

Where does your group fall in the Workgroup/Team description? What are your practices and resources for enhancing emotional intelligence over and above technical knowledge in your group? I would love to help you with that process through individual and team coaching.