Books on Teams and Teamwork

There are hundreds of books on teams and teamwork -- just go to any large bookstore and you're inundated with them. Most of them are pretty similar and can give you enough basic information on team dynamics to teach a short lecture on them. Here are a few that would be useful:

Dyer, W. G. (1994). Team Building,. New York, Addison-Wesley.
Updated "classic" team building book by one of the early pioneers in organizational development. Talks about the use of teams in organizations and the team building process. Describes several types of teams and team building strategies. Nice, short (154 p.) overview.

Fisher, K., S. Rayner, et al. (1995). Tips for Teams,. New York, McGraw-Hill.
Hundreds of suggestions on how to deal with typical team problems -- unclear goals, poor pacing, interpersonal problems, too many meetings, indecision,etc. More like a medical reference than a good overview. OK.

Hirschhorm, L. (1991). Mangaging in the New Team Environment,. New York, Addison-Wesley.
Short 100 page book on how to manage teams. Includes chapters on creating team structures, facilitating the team process, and managing the individual team members. Easy 1 hour read to get some of the basics. Part of the well-respected Addison-Wesley series on Organizational Development.

Katzenback, J. R. and D. K. Smith (1993). The Wisdom of Teams,. New York, HarperCollins.
A book by a McKinsey consutant on teams. Basic team models, and lots of examples from various industries. Has a Question and Answer guide to common team issues in the appendix. Focus is on all types of teams from shop floor to executive suite.

Larson, C. E. and F. M. J. La Fasto (1989). Teamwork: What Must Go Right, What Can Go Wrong,. Newbury Park, CA, Sage Publications.
The book describes a system developed to monitor the degree to which a team is functioning effectively. It provides feedback to help the team improve its own effectiveness, and also describes results of team studies.

Kidder, Tracy. The Soul of New Machine (Boston: Little, Brown, c1981). Great book about a team at DEC under pressure to build a new computer. Lots of team dynamics to discuss.

Maclean, Norman, Young men and fire (Chicago : University of Chicago Press,1992). Book about a group of firefighters in Wyoming who lost their lives in a wildfire. Explores the team dynamics in the situation and what went wrong (match with Weick's Sensemaking in Mann Gulch article)