Team Development

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the development of ‘process’ and ‘content’ skills in the context of a team building initiative within the NHS. Although there is a literature on the value of teamworking within both the private (Jackson, 1996) and public (0vretveit, 1992) sectors, it is widely acknowledged that the creation and maintenance of effective teams is not easy. This is in part due to the ad hoc way in which many teams are formed: managers putting together individuals with different skills, professional backgrounds, levels of power and influence, and expecting them to get on and work together. Thus there is a quite extensive literature on the problems and vicissitudes of working in teams (see West, 1996). Examples of such problems range from social hierarchy effects, in which certain individuals or professions dominate the group process, to dysfunctional interpersonal processes (such as competition, envy and poor communication), which may undermine team effectiveness.