Teams and groups offer a good opportunity for new and existing members to learn from each other. Teams and groups often consist of people with different talents and skills. Therefore, working together gives an opportunity to experienced employees to share their acquired skills and knowledge. Contrary when a person is working alone, groups and teams offer people a chance to challenge each idea while coming up with some compromised solutions that are essential in completing the task ( Surbhi, 2015) . Moreover, teamwork allows organizations to complete tasks more efficiently and faster than when individuals tackle projects alone. Additionally, teamwork on various projects is significant in reducing workloads and tasks for all employees while allowing them to share ideas and responsibilities. Furthermore, when each team member is assigned a specific role, it fosters specialization because each member is given roles that match their skills and experiences ( Surbhi, 2015) . However, there are various challenges faced when managing groups and team and it is vital to distinguish groups and teams, and groupthink and team think while evaluating the process of transforming a group into a team, and leadership styles in multicultural teams.
Group and Team
A group refers to a collection of people who corporate, work, and interact with each other to achieve particular goals within specified timelines ( Surbhi, 2015) . A group’s identity is different individually. Group members focus on achieving individual goals instead of group goals. Organizations make groups according to principles, common interests, experience in common fields, and beliefs ( Surbhi, 2015) . There are formal and informal groups. Informal groups are made naturally to satisfy psychological or social human needs while formal groups are created by the management to achieve particular objectives or tasks ( Surbhi, 2015) . Examples of groups include airline flight crew, ethnic groups, friendship circles, trade unions, and many other groups.
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On the contrary, a team is a collection of individuals who share a common goal within specified timelines and have collective accountability ( Surbhi, 2015) . Other than sharing information, all members are responsible for the team tasks and outcomes. Furthermore, members possess a mutual understanding of each other's weaknesses and strengths. Teams have synergy, and they work together to minimize weaknesses while optimizing each other's strengths ( Surbhi, 2015) . Some of the key features a team includes confrontation, cohesion, and collaboration ( Surbhi, 2015) . Examples of teams include a management team, cricket team, a team of doctors, a football team, and many others.
Groupthink and Teamthink
Groupthink is a barrier to efficient self-managing teams (Manz & Neck, 1995). Groupthink has a negative impact on team decision making processes. Team members end up interfering with rational decision-making procedures (Manz & Neck, 1995). Groups with such tendencies fail to evaluate and discuss proper courses of action critically and causes defective decision making while increasing the risks of poor outcomes (Manz & Neck, 1995). Some of the characteristics of groupthink include social pressure on members who disagree with shared group beliefs, self-censorship of concerns that deviate from the common opinion, unquestioned beliefs regarding the group's morality, and a belief that the group is invulnerable to failure (Manz & Neck, 1995). The main challenge facing self-managing teams is group think because there is internal pressure from group members for all members regarding conformity. Ultimately, conformity affects constructive critical analysis and causes inconclusive or dysfunctional decisions (Manz & Neck, 1995).
On the contrary, team think leads to positive and functional group outcomes such as improved productivity and effective decision making (Manz & Neck, 1995). Team members focus on establishing ‘inner leadership.' Inner leadership allows team members to establish and maintain desirable and constructive thought patterns that affect their perspectives, their information processing ability, and their decision-making processes (Manz & Neck, 1995). Some of the personal strategies that influence ‘inner leadership and associated thought patterns include evaluation and management of internal dialogues, beliefs and assumptions, and mental images. When team members effectively use such strategies, employees can enhance individual productivity and the entire organizational productivity. Therefore, team think can be fostered by having a common belief system (assumptions and beliefs), common vision regarding the future (mental imagery), and positive self-talk (internal dialogue) (Manz & Neck, 1995).
Transforming a Group into a Team
The first step involves identifying and confronting a group's dysfunctional beliefs and replacing them with liberal and rational beliefs. Dysfunctions such as conformity can be altered by establishing a rational and liberal problem-solving approach (Manz & Neck, 1995). Furthermore, they should ensure that decisions or choices at hand are critically evaluated and that they develop contingency plans if a risk occurs.
The second step involves establishing constructive mental imagery and self-dialogue. Group mental imagery and self-statements have a significant impact on the effectiveness of decision-making processes (Manz & Neck, 1995). Group members should replace self-defeating statements with positive inner dialogue to improve organization productivity. Furthermore, they should evaluate their dialogue patterns and ensure that they do not exert internal pressure on members who express concerns or question the group’s dominant focus (Manz & Neck, 1995). Moreover, they should take advantage of the group’s mental imagery to create common goals and objectives. However, the common vision should be a collection of all members’ opinions and should not be used as a source of internal pressure towards conformity (Manz & Neck, 1995).
Organization culture plays a critical role in transforming groups into a team. Organizational culture should support inclusion and diversity. All team members should feel included and that they have a voice in decision-making processes. Also, when employees feel they are included in decision-making processes and that they are part of a team, there will be less turnover and employees will be more willing to embrace changes (Groen, Wilderom & Wouters, 2017). Organizational cultures that embrace inclusion and diversity often have more productivity and innovation (Groen, Wilderom & Wouters, 2017). Additionally, employee participation when developing performance measures has a positive impact on employee productivity and perceptions (Groen, Wilderom & Wouters, 2017).
Leadership Styles in Managing Successful Multicultural Teams and Groups
Leaders should embrace inclusion and diversity when managing a multicultural workforce. Studies show that when the success of multicultural teams is dependent on the level of inclusivity ( Larsen, 2018) . A highly inclusive corporate culture translates to higher productivity and innovation. Leaders of multicultural organizations should ensure that all employees feel included in the formulation and implementation of the company’s mission and strategy ( Larsen, 2018) . Furthermore, such leaders should continuously seek methods of improving procedures and policies ( Larsen, 2018) . For instance, leaders should ask questions and receive feedback about issues they may have excluded in the company process and how the organization can be more inclusive. Also, leaders should continuously evaluate areas that may exhibit unconscious bias ( Larsen, 2018) . Also, a leader of a multicultural organization should frequently evaluate their assumptions while changing habits to reflect diversity and inclusiveness.
Fostering diversity and inclusion helps a company to attract not only top talent but also retain qualified and talented employees ( Larsen, 2018) . To achieve strategic objectives, the management team should prepare employees to deliver on a higher level than ever before. To achieve bigger goals, an organization should have a wider talent pool by being inclusive of all ethnic groups and diverse demographics ( Larsen, 2018) . Moreover, leaders should have an open discussion with a diverse workforce by creating a safe environment that encourages open discussions. During the discussion, leaders should ask employees how they can improve communication channels and behavior regarding multicultural teams ( Larsen, 2018) .
Notably, management teams should embrace mindfulness and self-leadership when managing multi-cultural teams. Self-leadership describes internal processes that improve personal performance and effectivity (Furtner, Tutzer, & Sachse, 2018). On the other hand, mindfulness describes nonjudgmental and intentional observations of various experiences and processes in the present moment (Furtner, Tutzer, & Sachse, 2018). Therefore, a mindful self-leader evaluates current social interactions, emotions, and thoughts with the objective of achieving organizational goals through workplace diversity and inclusion (Furtner, Tutzer, & Sachse, 2018).
The Importance of Creative Leadership
One of the most interesting factors about leadership is the importance of creative leadership. A good manager can implement creative leadership by being transformative in morale, innovation, and individual performance ( Amer, 2017) . Moreover, the leader should realize that each team member and that the organization can only be successful when team members utilize diverse skills to achieve their shared goals ( Amer, 2017) . Moreover, a creative leader should make room for mistakes and realize that every individual, including employees, make mistakes ( Amer, 2017) . Therefore, the leader should foster an atmosphere where employees can freely communicate without fear of attacks and criticisms. Furthermore, creative leaders accept that innovation is mandatory and that organizations should continuously improve its work processes. Moreover, creative leaders can absorb negativity and transforms it into positive energy without hurting organizational teams ( Amer, 2017) .
Notably, creative leaders appreciate the significance of productivity in comparison to working long hours. Moreover, they find techniques using evaluation tools, solving conflicts, showing gratitude, and being humble ( Amer, 2017) . Also, creative leaders act as role models to employees. A leader should not only teach technical skills but also inspire employees to achieve shared goals. Furthermore, they show gratitude and can motivate employees ( Amer, 2017) .
Conclusion
The paper has distinguished groups and teams, and groupthink and team think while evaluating the process of transforming a group into a team, and leadership styles in multicultural teams. Leaders should be transformative by changing groups into teams and by inspiring employees to improve performance. The success of all organizations is dependent on leadership styles and the ability to embrace diversity and inclusivity. Leaders should display quality behavior in the way they respond to every aspect in the organization including how they respond to tough situations, how the leader communicates, plans, and interacts with various stakeholders in the organization.
References
Amer, W. (2017). The Art of Creative Leadership. Leadership .
Furtner, M. R., Tutzer, L., & Sachse, P. (2018). The mindful self-leader: Investigating the relationships between self-leadership and mindfulness. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal , 46 (3), 353-360.
Groen, B. A., Wilderom, C. P., & Wouters, M. J. (2017). High job performance through co ‐ developing performance measures with employees. Human resource management , 56 (1), 111-132.
Larsen, T. (2018). Building A Diverse, Inclusive Workforce. Leadership , 23-24.
Manz, C. C., & Neck, C. P. (1995). Teamthink: beyond the groupthink syndrome in self-managing work teams. Journal of Managerial Psychology , 10 (1), 1-13.
Surbhi, S. (2015). Difference Between Group and Team (with Examples, Similarities and Comparison Chart) - Key Differences . [online] Key Differences. Available at: https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-group-and-team.html [Accessed 2 Dec. 2018].
