ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the influence of member familiarity on teamwork processes and decision making. It reviews relevant team and decision making research describing how teams develop, the nature of teamwork and taskwork, and team decision making, and identifies the specific teamwork mechanisms through which familiarity may influence team decision making and performance. The chapter discusses research that specifically addresses the influence of team familiarity on team performance. It provides the evidence, which suggests that teams regularly working together tend to be more effective than ad hoc teams. It presents the evidence indicating that team communication, coordination, leadership and trust are central in enabling emergency service teams to effectively respond to key events, develop and implement appropriate plans, and make good quality decisions to resolve the incident. The chapter concludes with a summary of the key observations.
