ABSTRACT
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English (1949) refers first to a ‘set of draught animals’ and only then to a ‘set of persons working together’. The same dictionary explains teamwork as a ‘combined effort, organized cooperation’. For a set of draught animals there is certainly evidence of a combined effort. However, this is hardly voluntary but determined and organized by a separate agent, the teamster or driver. According to the dictionary, when a set of people work together, the effect should be organized cooperation – an agreed, planned working together towards a specific, common goal. This presupposes that the group of people has agreed on a goal or purpose and on a mutually acceptable plan in which each member is prepared to participate. Such participation, in turn, may call on each member to undertake a variety of tasks and to play different roles as the work of the team progresses. No wonder that successful teamwork is not easy nor fully mastered at the first attempt. Even in team games, where each player is assigned a specific part, or in army units, with highly disciplined soldiers, extensive training and overt development of team spirit are accepted as essential.
