Teamwork: How to Use Teams to Enhance the Business

Citation

(2005), "Teamwork: How to Use Teams to Enhance the Business", Education + Training, Vol. 47 No. 4/5. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2005.00447dae.001

Teamwork: How to Use Teams to Enhance the Business

Teamwork: How to Use Teams to Enhance the Business

Edited by Michael WestAston Business SchoolDecision Makers Series Editor: Nigel NicholsonLondon Business SchoolISBN 1-903091-34-9£8.99

This is one of the titles in a new series called “Decision Makers” from Format Publishing. Yes, another series. But this one actually looks quite good; albeit at a fairly superficial, introductory level. Four books were published in 2004: Risk, Negotiation, Strategy, and Change. Teamwork, together with Marketing, Performance, and Innovation complete the series.

Teamwork is a concise guide to making team-based working a reality. From creating a balanced team to overcoming the problems that teams face, it seeks to help the reader “actively manage teamwork for better workplace harmony and increased effectiveness”.

The book covers:

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  how to create a team that has both purpose and diversity;

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  getting the right skills;

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  the essentials of team leadership;

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  solving problems and making decisions; and

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  building and preserving team unity.

One of the strengths of this book, and indeed the series as a whole, is the quality of writing. All the editors are recognized academics in their field. The topics are handled in a concise way yet not one that is simplistic or little more than a checklist. The illustrations and case examples are well integrated, often featuring well-known issues from recent years. In each chapter further reading is flagged although the referencing (no date, no publisher) of these leaves something to be desired.

The publisher claims all the titles in the series simplify complex ideas without dumbing down. This is an ambitious claim. If ideas are complex then they cannot be simplified. Nevertheless a commendable attempt has been made to provide a pathway into the complexity through these compact and well-produced guides.