Introduction According to Gitman and McDaniel (2009), organizations work well when employees form functional teams. These scholars say that it is important to make people work as a group. Human being by nature needs constant motivation and a reminder of the aim that should be achieved after a specified period. The top management may not be able to maintain a constant presence within the firm that would help ensure that employees remain motivated. For this reason, it is important to ensure that another way of maintaining this motivation is found. These scholars say that the best way of doing this is to ensure that employees are in a position to motivate themselves. This can only be possible if these employees are made to work as a team. Employees should be allowed to form small manageable teams focused on achieving specific objectives within the firm. Plunkett, Attner and Allen (2008) say that a number of teams can be formed within an organization. The most common form of teams in a firm comprises the cross-functional teams and self-managed teams (Parker, 2003). Other forms of teams that may exist within an organization include virtual teams, functional teams, and problem solving teams. All these teams are defined based on the reason for their development, the way they operate, and their management structure. Cross-functional teams and self-managed teams share a number of factors. For instance, both teams mainly focus on knowledge and skill sharing, teamwork and increased commitment towards tasks within the organization. The scholars also acknowledge that these two types of teams have a number of differences. Cross-functional teams According to Parker (2003), cross-functional teams within an organization are important, and their relevance in motivating employees should not be ignored. According to this scholar, cross-functional teams are formed when members from different departments within an organization come together to achieve a specific goal. These members may come from marketing department, production unit, finance department, customer care, or any other unit within an organization. The main aim of these individuals to come together is to share knowledge and skills from their departments that would make them perform better in their respective departments. According to Parker (2003), cross-functional groups work in unidirectional manner when compared to self-managed groups. Team members in this group come together with the focus of obtaining general success of the organization other than specific objective. The team members will be aiming at finding the best ways in which they can share information from their various departments to make operations of other members from other departments better (Plunkett, Attner & Allen, 2008). Based on its definition, two to twenty team members can form Cross-functional teams. However, the optimal number of members in such a group should be eight or nine members. This is the right number that is easily manageable and able to share skills and information for the betterment of the organization. Self-managed teams Plunkett, Attner, and Allen (2008) talk about self-managed teams and how they are important in an organization. These scholars appreciate the fact that in an organizational setting, it is importan