Work Teams

Work teams are composed of two or more individuals who (a) perform organizationally relevant tasks, (b) share one or more common goals, (c) interact socially, (d) exhibit interdependencies in task workflows, (e) manage and maintain group boundaries, and (f) are embedded in a broader organizational context that constrains the team and influences exchanges with other units in the organization. During the past two decades, strategic, technological, and economic forces have driven a shift from work organized around individual jobs to team-based structures. Teams serve as the basic building blocks of modern organizations and represent a critical means by which work is accomplished in today's world. Therefore, significant research during the past few decades has been focused on understanding work team effectiveness. This entry looks at ...