Teams in a New Era: Some Considerations and Implications

Lauren E. Benishek, Elizabeth H. Lazzara
2019 Frontiers in Psychology  
Teams have been a ubiquitous structure for conducting work and business for most of human history. However, today's organizations are markedly different than those of previous generations. The explosion of innovative ideas and novel technologies mandate changes in job descriptions, roles, responsibilities, and how employees interact and collaborate. These advances have heralded a new era for teams and teamwork in which previous teams research and practice may not be fully appropriate for
more » ... current requirements and demands. In this article, we describe how teams have been historically defined, unpacking five important characteristics of teams, including membership, interdependence, shared goals, dynamics, and an organizationally bounded context, and relating how these characteristics have been addressed in the past and how they are changing in the present. We then articulate the implications these changes have on how we study teams moving forward by offering specific research questions.
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01006 pmid:31143144 pmcid:PMC6520615 fatcat:oe4jz2dwwnbmrn6t5ql3limxoa