ABSTRACT
In the 1920’s, Otto Kohler, head of the Psychology Institute of Berlin University, investigated the effect of teamwork on people. Amongst others, he did performance experiments together with the university’s rowing club. He looked at how rowers performed on their own and in teams. The resulting phenomenon became known as the “Kohler effect.” One of the key characteristics of information technology (IT) is that it is a team “sport.” Individuals do great things, but customers get great IT services through the cooperation of people in teams to deliver the required IT services. Continuous improvement starts at the team level, where the value-added work is done. Teams and groups are very recognizable within IT organizations. For example, in a large IT organization, there is a team of ABAP developers. These engineers ensure that all adjustments to the SAP ERP system are carried out in a consistent manner. This set of developers is referred to as the “ABAP Team.”
