ABSTRACT
Teams are of paramount importance for effective ground risk management. However, they add complexity to the already complicated behaviour of individuals. Within teams, individuals tend to adapt their attitude and actions, which may create positive as well as negative effects. Insight into the behaviour of teams and their approaches to risk will help to implement ground-related risk management in our projects. We start with appraising the concept of the team. Groups and teams need to
be distinguished and we have to go through a number of inevitable phases when creating a team out of a group of people. Particularly with regard to uncertainty and risk, the concept of team culture further facilitates our understanding of teams and their dynamics. Our day-to-day practices teach us that communication between people is not
that simple. Better formulated, communication between people is inherently complicated. Teams and their risk communication, therefore, get particular attention in this chapter. Finally, three types of team demonstrate how teams can contribute to the intro-
duction and application of ground risk management. For the moment, the client is not yet considered as a team member, because their interests differ importantly from those of the contractor or the engineer. The client in our team is not yet that common in our industry, although innovative ways of cooperation with clients, such as partnering, have been started. Nevertheless, the client and risk will be described separately in the next chapter. As usual, this chapter closes with a summary.
