Team


 * Teams: The Most Efficient Group **
 * By Scott Shim **

Heat, Manchester United, and Ravens are just some of the many teams that have won championships in 2013. The athletes on these teams come together in order to accomplish a common goal— to win a championship. However, any group of people who come together for a common interest can be considered a team, such as a worship team, rock climbing team, or an Apple work team. Like most words, the meaning of “team” has changed within different cultures and over time. In addition to this change, teams have also affected the way groups are viewed. A thorough research analysis of the word “team” reveals that today’s society values efficiency within a group.

 The examination of the word’s origin reveals certain aspects of the word’s future definition. The earliest traces of the word can be found back during the Anglo-Saxon period. “Team” was first written as “téam" in Old English, which related to a “family” or “line of descendants (Oxford English Dictionary).” However “team” in its actual literal sense was more commonly used as “a set of draft animals yoked together (Online Etymology Dictionary).” The various roots of the word lead to the old definition of teams.

Before, the word “team” was known as a group of animals that were put together. Usually these animals were draught animals that were harnessed by a certain device in order to accomplish a task (Oxford English Dictionary). As the years went by, the meaning of “team” changed. Humans started to notice grouped animals’ efficiency when it came to completing jobs. So humans applied and switched the meaning of “teams” towards their goals around the 1600’s (Oxford English Dictionary). Today, the most common and precise definition of the word is “a group of people with complementary skills who are involved in a common set of goals for which they are collectively accountable (Oxford Reference).” For humans to change the meaning of a “team” from a group of animals to a group of humans displays the importance of efficiency for society and the study of groups. Compared to animals, humans do have a sense of time. Most individuals want to complete an assignment in a certain period. With this understanding, people come together as a group to complete a task efficiently. A task is what makes a team different from a group. “Groups” are made up of people who are related to each other by “social relationships (Forsyth, 2).” “Teams”, on the other hand, are brought together to fulfill their goal collectively within a certain time frame. In today’s society, most people within teams gain a great amount of satisfaction from completing a task, especially one that is set in a timeline. This satisfaction is what drives humans to work collaboratively in teams. In addition, people from distinct cultures share the same joy of being in a team as well.  The idea of “team” is commonly known throughout the various countries, but they do not express the word all the same way. For example, people from Mexico say “equipos,” the Dutch say “ploeg,” and the Japanese use “チーム.” The various languages across the globe, for the most part, do not resemble or sound like how most Americans would say “team.” Language reflects a major part of a country’s culture. The vast differences of how one country pronounces a certain word to another country could reveal dissimilarities between the cultures on the outside. However, the modern definition of the term is interpreted the same way by most countries. This universal understanding of the concept of the word “team” signifies the common value of team for most countries – the value of efficiency towards a shared purpose. A team is a significant group in today’s group-oriented society. However the significant value of “teams” is only exemplified by a thorough examination of the term. Various cultural societies have individuals who come together as teams. These individuals understand most importantly the efficiency these special groups are capable of. This modern concept of the word is only understood by tracing back to the word’s roots. A further development of the word’s meaning from a team of animals to a team people signifies the value of humans to finish a goal in an efficient amount of time. Thus an analysis of the word “team” displays how special types of groups play an integral part in a group-dominated society. Works Cited Forsyth, D. R. (nd). Group Dynamics: Overview.Unpublished manuscript retrieved May 10, 2012 from https://blackboard.richmond.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-984217-dt-content-rid-1075473_1/xid-1075473_1 Heery, E., & Noon, M.(2009). Group. In A dictionary of human resource management (electronic version) New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 13 Sep. 2013, from http://www.oxfordreference.com/ Team [Def. 1]. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved September 13, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/team Team. (n.d.). In Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved September 15, 2013, from <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=team <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Team [Def. 3]. (n.d.). In Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved September 13, 2013, from <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/198373?rskey=rdxQMZ&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Team [Def. 4b]. (n.d.). In Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved September 13, 2013, <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/198373?rskey=rdxQMZ&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid