Recently, after starting a new job, I got into thinking about the differences and similarities between a team and a family. Since my new job is in the social services field, the manager wanted to create a family of individuals who would support each other in their work. At my old job which was in wholesale distribution, the emphasis was on having a well functioning team.
Here Are Some Similarities
·0 Both a family and a team involve a group of individuals who support each other ideally and/or realistically for specific reasons. We all have experienced to one degree or another a family with individuals who are dysfunctional, selfish, or rub us the wrong way. However, we all know there is an ideal for a family to work toward and at times we need to take the good with the bad. This can also apply toward a team.
·1 Both a team and a family involve a variety of unique and different individuals. Please refer back to previous comments.
·2 On a team and a family there are some people we work together better with or get along better with initially than others. This could be because we are very different, too much alike, they remind us of someone from our past, etc.
·3 Every team and family has people with a variety of maturity levels or skills. This is where a team and family can work together to help each other grow. When multiple
individuals help those who need to grow, this takes the burden off any one person to do the all the helping themselves.
Here Are Some Differences
·4 A family emphasizes relationships or something related as an end goal; a team emphasizes completing a specific task or tasks as an end goal.
·5 A family is initially formed around the people in it; a team is usually created to accomplish specific tasks/goals.
·6 A family's emphasis on relationships can lead to more effective and closer families if each member is willing to grow and change. A team's emphasis on goals and tasks can lead each team member to grow and improve themselves in order to improve their contribution to the overall team and complete the task or goal needing to be accomplished.
·7 Families tend to have a "natural order" and everyone has a role. Teams tend to need more structure in order to accomplish tasks and goals. Another Continuum That Can Fluctuate
So I started asking myself the question "Why does an organization need to be one or the other?" Can't an organization be both or maybe more one than the other in different seasons of it's life cycle? Organizations that are in the social service field do well with the family emphasis most of the time. But without a functioning team, important tasks are done inefficiently or not done at all. Wholesale distribution's emphasis may be on teams, but without any relational support similar to a family, people will feel unheard and out of place. Another thought to consider is the idea that part of an organization may be more of a team and another part may be more of a family. In Summation There are similarities and differences between a family and a team. Whether you call an organization a family or a team depends on many things including the focus of the organization, season and life cycle it is in, what specific part of the organization you are referring to, the present members of the organization, and more.
How About Your Group? What is the end goal/vision of your group? Who are the members and what is their background and history? When you consider the differences and similarities between a team and a family, does one fit your organization better than the other or do both fit certain areas or seasons of the organization?