Advanced HealthCare Management - Essay Example

Although it may seem as something of a semantic issue, the fact that there is a wide degree of differential with regards to the definition and purpose of teams and formal versus informal groups is without question. The first differential is with regards to the fact that groups and teams operate in different, and oftentimes complementary, manners. For instance, the basic definition of a group, whether formal or informal, can be defined as three or more individuals seeking to engage on a common goal and provide movement towards a specific goal (Burns et al, 2012).

Conversely, a team may be defined as comprising a group of individuals. In such a way, it can be determined that a group can only develop into a team if there is a drive to reach some form of coordinated consensus or particular goal. Within such an understanding, the reader can come to the appreciation of the fact that the ultimate evolutionary goal of each and every group is to arrive at the “team” stage of development.Furthermore, an added level of differential exists between formal and informal groups.

As one might expect, formal groups are created and/or maintained as a means of fulfilling certain and specific tasks with relation to the needs and demands of a particular entity and/or organization. Such a level of conscious and deliberate creation helps to constrain and formalize them into units that would not otherwise naturally exist or be spontaneously evidenced within the professional/business/or corporate environment. However, informal groups are the result of the spontaneous forces that can encourage individuals to come together while working to develop a variety of goals.

Informal groups can be predicated on either useful or un-useful metrics. An example of a useful metric could be the fact that an informal group could come together as a means of tackling an extant problem that all stakeholders had come to notice (Hongseok et al, 2004). Conversely, an un-useful means by which such an informal group could be created would be based on a shared dislike for an individual or group of individuals. Although these organizational standards and means of application for teams, formal, and informal groups are all different, it must be understood that they each have their place in seeking to speak to the needs of the individuals and organizations that create and sponsor them.

ReferencesBurns, L. B., Bradley, E. H., & Weiner, B. J. (2012). Shortell and Kaluzny’s health care management: Organization design and behavior (6th ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.Hongseok, O., Myung-Ho, C., & Labianca, G. (2004). GROUP SOCIAL CAPITAL AND GROUP EFFECTIVENESS: THE ROLE OF INFORMAL SOCIALIZING TIES. Academy Of Management Journal, 47(6), 860-875. doi:10.2307/20159627