Apple has a formal team, it has a leader who delegates task, the leader is higher ranked therefore it is a formal team. Apple’s team would be a permanent team as they would have set researchers and designers however developers would be temporary as they would just need to develop and create the product, within this group designers and researchers would also be present as their input is vital.
Waitrose also formal team as they have different levels of authority, from the store manager to cashier. The Waitrose teams would be permanent as they all have day-to-day roles to carry out.
Project Teams
Project teams are teams which are created specifically for a certain project, an example of project teams are builders who are put together to create for example a new shopping mall, once this is done they are then finished with the project and then move on to another project.
Temporary Teams
These teams are created for a short period of time and once the task at hand is completed it is discontinued, the difference between Temporary and Project teams are that project teams remain as a team, whereas temporary teams do no, after a task. An example of this is the creation of a new product, once the product is made there is no need for the team.
Permanent Teams
The opposite of temporary, permanent teams are created for a long period of time, the team is set task to do, and this is carried out on a daily basis (unless told otherwise) for example working in Waitrose is part of a permanent team.
Informal/Formal Teams
The difference between the two is that Formal teams are clearly structured with focus on speciality; a Formal team will have in place different levels of authority e.g managers etc. In an Informal team there is no such structure; every member of the team is equal to each other and can carry out the task set. Informal teams are common in start-up business where all the people involved are equal and have the same skills set.
Benefits of teams within an organisation
-
Workload can be shared – In a team, each member can be given a task for them to carry out, and this would help decrease the workload on every member and in turn would make sure all work is complete.
-
Help is at hand – If a member is stuck in a certain task, they can always ask their team member for help, this is a benefit as it would ensure productivity does not decrease, usually if a person is stuck they must refer back to the person who has given them the task, however in a team they can ask their peers for help.
-
Monitoring staff – Organisations can make teams to monitor how well staff are doing, they can compare the quality of work when in a group and see who stands out, this is beneficial as the organisation can then see who is the best in the field, from here they can then decide to promote or reward the best achiever and try motivate or fire the worst worker.
-
Reduction of alienation – Creating a team could help new workers settle in to an organisation, being in a group would require new workers to interact with other members are create ties with each other. The new worker would then become more comfortable in the organisation, this could help improve productivity.
-
Implementing change – Being in a group could help implement change, because the group will have a various amount of people, implementing change would be easier because more people are being told what to change at the same time, this would mean that less time is spent briefing others about the change as they would all have been briefed at once. This is beneficial to a team as it means they can use the time saved elsewhere.