“Teamwork is the keystone” say cops

Abstract

Discusses the link between organizational context and the nature of effective teamwork. Using a variety of examples from the police force, highlights the importance of the explicit authority structure in terms of providing clear leadership and accountability. Other types of organizations are unable to provide this sort of absolute parameters, particularly since the trend is towards leaner, flatter structures and empowered workforces. Staff are likely to find themselves in a number of teams, all working to different agendas and with little guidance about priorities. One solution is to focus on translating the business strategy into clearly defined goals so that the context for teamwork is explicit and the priority of the outcome is clear.