A difficulty in understanding teams is that the words teams and teamwork are often overused and applied loosely. For some people, team is simply another term for group. As used here, a team is a work group that must rely on collaboration if each member is to experience the optimum success and achievement. Teamwork is work done with an understanding and commitment to group goals on the part of all team members.

All teams are groups, but not all groups are teams. Although the distinction between a group and a team may be valid, it is difficult to cast aside the practice of using the terms group and team interchangeably. Although an important goal of a team-based organization is for group members to participate in leadership and management activities, leaders still play an important role. In fact, they learn to lead in new ways.

Team-based organizations need leaders who are knowledgeable in the team process and can help with the interpersonal demands of teams, for example, by giving feedback and resolving conflict. Quite often the leader is a facilitator who works with two or three teams at a time. He or she helps them stay focused when personality and work style differences create problems. Without effective leadership, teams can get off course, go too far or not far enough, and become blocked by interpersonal conflict. Effective leadership is particularly important early in the history of a group to help it reach its potential.

A role for executive-level leaders requiring separate mention is that of leading a number of teams within the organization, referred to as intergroup leadership. To carry out the role successfully of building teamwork among various teams, a starting point is for the leader to frequently talk about the identity of the team composed of teams, building a shared collective identity across the teams.

Intergroup leadership can also take place at middle levels within the organization. When the leader is not a member of the team, he or she is classified as an external leader. A notable challenge for the manager who leads a variety of teams is that different teams within the organization might have a culture of their own, referred to as a subculture. We emphasize again that an important role for the leader in a team-based organization is often to lead a group of people who do not report directly to him or her. As a consequence, many of the teamwork development tactics become all the more important for accomplishing results.