Models of teamwork: ideal or not? A critical study of theoretical team models

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -There is a tendency in team research to employ concepts of stepwise models, reaching from the primitive to the excellent, to suggest that a higher level of evolution is better than the basic and simple. This tendency includes typologies of teams. This article aims to question the relevance of this view. Design/methodology/approach -Data were collected in three steps. In the first step, articles and books analyzing teams and teamwork from stepwise analytical models were collected. In the second step the collected data were classified into different themes. Each stepwise model was classified into one essential denomination. This classification resulted in eight themes. In the third step each theme was analyzed, which led to the fusion of some of the themes. Findings -The conclusion is that a synchronous, complementary or mature team is not necessarily optimal. Contrary to this, a differentiated, sequential or multi team approach can be optimal for some purposes. Team research needs to establish a more open, inductive and critical attitude than at present. Originality/value -The paper highlights the need to observe and use team theories in a balanced and critical way.

Effective Surgical Teams: An Integrative Literature Review

“…This interdisciplinary team relies on each other’s skills and performs interdependent tasks in a highly dynamic work environment, albeit they share a mutual goal: the delivery of safe surgical care (Baker, Day, & Salas, 2006; Burtscher & Manser, 2012). The specific hierarchies and organizational cultures of operating theaters, combined with the presence of continuously changing interdisciplinary teams means perioperative care differs from other high-risk industries such as the military or aviation industry (Berlin, Carlström, & Sandberg, 2012; Braaf, Manias, & Riley, 2013; Cullati et al, 2013; Styer, Ashley, Schmidt, Zive, & Eappen, 2011).…”

Trust tokens in team development

“…Additionally, several of these students have been exposed to teamwork environments during past work experience, working with other teams, and in research projects. Since these student teams are a combination of undergraduate students, graduate students, and industry professionals; they encompass a wide range of experiences and expertise, allowing us to assess multiple team characteristics, as described by Berlin et al (2012).…”

“…Although Tuckman's (1965) model has been challenged multiple times (Berlin et al, 2012;Rickards and Moger, 2000), it is still highly accepted and, for our purposes, will be used to provide a foundation to explain the impact of improper trust levels on team formation. For example, Bonebright (2010) recently published a review of the history of utilisation of Tuckman's model, in which she discusses several cases where Tuckman's model has either been challenged or validated.…”

All we need is trust: trust and human resource management

“…Integration within teams depends on how well individual team members function within the team and how well team members work with and relate to one another (Lichtenstein et al , 1997). Despite differences between the various teamwork models, they mainly share two similarities: the interactive and integrated aspects of team members’ work (Berlin et al , 2012). Recent studies emphasize the cooperative aspect of team integration and the need to unite efforts (Fiset and Dostaler, 2013; Khairil et al , 2013; Smith and Offodile, 2008).…”