Teamwork in Healthcare Management

Abstract

Groups are pervasive in healthcare institutions and take on a variety of shapes. This paper uses a typology that allows us to understand the distinctive characteristics of team operations, based on interdependence and interactive dimensions. It looks at factors that influence team effectiveness in organizational settings. We review different frameworks that shed light in explaining the conditions that lead to group effectiveness. From the classical input-process-output (IPO) model to the input-mediator-output-input (IMOI) model of team effectiveness; the taxonomy of team process and emergent estates, as well as the teams understood as complex adaptive systems and also studied from the multiteam system perspective. We also report the need for more robust research designs to contribute to the field’s further advancement. There is consensus among scholars demanding further conceptual frameworks, as well as powerful research designs that capture process-oriented theory and research on team effectiveness. Some future directions and recommendations are suggested.