An analysis of the concept of teamwork

Abstract

In community health work, the team approach, is often proposed as one way of getting things done. Yet, when teamwork fails, we are at a loss in assessing the reasons for its failure. In this paper, we suggest an analytic model in viewing the possible reasons of this failure. We examine the structure of the team within the context of six assumptionsunder which teamwork operates: equality, knowledge, professions, marginality, task, and domain. When these assumptions are viewed in relation to possible cognitive dissonance,consisting of functional and substantive rationalities, it is our contention that success or failure in teamwork can best be explained by the degree of dissonance that is inherent in the assumptions.