[MUSIC PLAYING] - Organizations use a wide variety in different types of teams. The members of functional teams come from the same department or functional area. A team of marketing employees and a team of finance employees are examples of functional teams. 

Cross-functional teams have members from different departments or functional areas. This is one of the most common types of work teams. Some organizations are organized such that the company's core work is done in cross-functional teams. For example, Ideo, a product innovation and design company, believes that interdisciplinary teamwork boosts innovation and creativity. Teams share and improve ideas, build on other team members' skills, and provide more opportunities for problem solving. 

Cross-functional teams have several strengths. In addition to getting things done faster, particularly customer service and new product development, they can increase creativity. Cross-functional teams also improve a firm's ability to solve complex problems by bringing different sets of skills, perceptions, and experiences together. Because they're driving diverse people from functional background areas together, they also increase employees' knowledge about other areas of the organization. The same diversity that can be a strength for cross-functional teams can also be a weakness if this diversity is not properly managed and conflicts are not effectively handled. 

Problem-solving teams are established to solve problems and make improvements the core strength of problem-solving teams is that because employees are the ones actually doing the work, they usually know the job best. Putting employees in teams responsible for solving problems puts this expertise to work. 

Self-directed teams set their own goals and pursue them in ways desired by the team. Team members are responsible for tasks typically reserved for team members or managers, including schedule work and vacation, ordering supplies, and evaluating their own performance. 

Venture teams are teams that operate semi-autonomously and create and develop new products, product development teams, processes, process design teams or businesses, venture teams. Virtual teams are teams of geographically and/or organizationally dispersed co-workers who communicate using the internet and other information technologies. Global teams have members from different countries. Global teams can be virtual or meet face-to-face. 

Whereas formal groups and teams are established by the organization, informal groups are formed by their members and consist of friendship groups, which are relatively permanent, and interest groups, which may be shorter lived. Friendship groups arise out of cordial relationship among members and the enjoyment they've gotten from being together. Interest groups are organized around a common activity or interest, although friendships may develop among members. 

Virtual teams are becoming increasingly common in organizations. New forms of technology, coupled with pressures to reduce travel costs, make it easy for colleagues who are geographically dispersed to interact in ways that mirror face-to-face interactions. 

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