Teamwork in health care is studied through the perspective of health services managers, aiming at assessing their points of view on the issue and their perception on the model of work organization, and on the instruments used to encourage teamwork. It is comprehensive and interpreting qualitative research, based on the theoretical reference of the studies on health work process, in the theory of communicative action, communicative management, in the entirety of health, and in teamwork in health care. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interview with 21 central health care managers in a region of the city of São Paulo, assessing the empirical material according to the technique of content analysis based on the theoretical picture. The outcomes show four different ideas on team work: drawing up and problematizing the theme, not drawing up and problematizing the theme, similarity between teamwork and collective work, and teamwork only as an instrument of the medical work. Only a small number of managers present a reflection on teamwork related to the full attention model and to the entirety of health, these are the same that demonstrate a practice of team management where they use consistently a vast array of tools that enable forming and consolidating work teams articulated with the institutional project. Generally speaking, in the services where these managers are, reports on teamwork are found − in the other services, the prevalence is work individualized by professionals.