ABSTRACT
Effective teamwork has been crucial for mankind all throughout history. It has proven helpful not only when hunting mammoths in prehistoric times, but also in contemporary research projects or in high-tech industrial and service companies. The need for teamwork even grew with increasing task complexity, international division of labor and interdependence. In companies all over the world this development is reflected in the multitude and variety of teams at all levels and in all functions. Teamwork is, however, no guarantee for success. On the contrary, social psychologists have found it much easier to prove process losses rather than synergy gains due to teamwork. Potential pitfalls such as group think due to selective information processing, social loafing due to reduced individual motivation in groups or coordination losses can easily reduce group efficiency. Nevertheless, growing task complexity and interdependence require more and more teamwork in different settings and different types of teams. A better understanding of the basic concepts of teamwork, different team models and critical factors of team effectiveness might help to implement teamwork successfully.
