Groups can take many forms. The most common among them are called primary groups—long-lasting groups that form around the relationships that mean the most to their members. Your family constitutes one primary group to which you belong; your friends are another.

In addition to primary groups, there are groups defined by their specific functions (for instance, support groups, study groups, and social groups). However, any one of these groups can perform multiple functions. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), for example, is primarily a support group—a set of individuals who come together to address personal problems while benefiting from the support of others with similar issues. But AA is also a social group, as membership in the group offers opportunities to form relationships with others. And finally, as a group with a specific mission—to help members manage their struggles with alcohol and addiction—AA is also a problem-solving group.

Although all groups are to some degree social, some groups are more task-oriented than others. Study groups, for example, are formed for the specific purpose of helping students prepare for exams. Perhaps the most task-oriented and goal-driven type of group is the team—a group that works together to carry out a project or to compete against other teams. Sports teams are an obvious example, but teams are also common in large organizations or as subsets of other groups: an Army unit might select a few members to form a reconnaissance team; a community group might nominate a team of individuals to take charge of its annual fund-raiser.

One of the more noteworthy and common types of teams in today’s organizations is the self-directed work team (SDWT), a group of skilled workers who take responsibility themselves for producing high-quality finished work (Colvin, 2012; Douglas, 2002). In self-directed work teams, members control their own management functions, such as arranging their schedules, buying equipment, and setting standards for productivity, quality, and costs. They also conduct their own peer evaluations and coordinate their future plans with management. Their complementary skills and experiences enable the team to accomplish more together than any individual member could achieve independently (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993).

Perhaps the most dramatic impact of self-directed teams is the improved performance and cooperation of employees throughout the organization. Organizations are shifting their structural power and decision making from upper levels to lower levels of management in efforts to implement change and growth and empower employees (Douglas, Martin, & Krapels, 2006). Federal Express and Minnesota-based 3M are among an increasing number of companies that involve employees through work teams. (See Table 9.1 for tips on working in a self-directed work team.).