Team Vs. Group: Where does responsibility lie?

Individual responsibilities (Group)
In a group each member is responsible for only their own individual contributions. He or she achieves outcomes or makes their contribution to the organization in (relative) isolation.

Individuals need not have any concern about what other members of the group achieve.

Group members are likely to develop an individual relationship with the group leader. Relationships between group leader and different individuals may vary considerably in their tone and quality.

One individual may need to be managed much more forcefully than another, for example. Other group members may not be aware of this ... and if they were, it is likely to be of little consequence to them.

Within a group there is not the interconnectedness and shared responsibility you see between team members. Each member of a group can say ‘I did my best, it is not my fault that others did not pull their weight.'

Collective responsibility (Team)
In a team, all the players know they are interconnected. They understand that it is the quality of their collective performance that determines the final result: success or failure.

In an effective team, each member knows that they are dependent on the other members for achieving the final result. Which means team members have an interest in helping each other where they can.

In software design projects - for example - this seems to lead to more pro-active fault-finding. That is, team members recognize their collective responsibility for the outcomes they achieve.


If forceful treatment is meted out to one member of a team, it is likely to have consequences for the team as a whole. This is especially the case if such treatment is perceived as unwarranted or unfair.

Positive or negative, the consequences of team leadership decisions may be magnified by the relationships between team members.