Teams
Teams vs groups
A team shares a common goal, interdependent work, and mutual accountability; a group may simply share information. Effective teams have a charter (purpose, scope, sponsor, deliverables, boundaries), agreed roles (leader, facilitator, recorder, timekeeper, members), ground rules, and a decision method chosen up front.
Development stages
Tuckman's sequence: forming (polite, dependent), storming (conflict over roles and ideas), norming (agreements and cohesion), performing (focus on results), adjourning (disbanding). Storming is normal and often productive; a team that never disagrees may be avoiding issues.
Decisions and conflict
Decisions can be made by authority, majority, or consensus - consensus means everyone can support the decision, not that everyone's first choice wins. Unanimity is not required. Conflict styles: avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromising, collaborating. Collaborating seeks a win-win and is preferred for important issues where both sides hold real information; compromising splits differences and is a fallback.
Traps
Treating storming as evidence of a failing team; confusing the facilitator's role (manages process, stays neutral) with the leader's (owns results and content); assuming consensus equals a unanimous vote; confusing a team charter with a project schedule.
Worked example
Two members want different suppliers. The team lists each option's criteria, scores them, and builds a combined approach - that is collaborating, not compromising, because a new solution is created rather than each side giving something up.