Connecting the Needs of Interdisciplinary Teams - A General Framework for Management

Abstract: Interdisciplinary teams are considered to be of great importance for addressing complex problems of the present and future, as they are able to address the complexity of society’s most pressing issues such as climate change, or healthcare solutions. They can be found in multiple areas concerned with future- related problems. Research on specific fields such as healthcare and social work suggests that these teams face specific challenges and needs within their specific sector. However, research on the common needs these teams may have has not been conducted yet, leaving the manager of interdisciplinary teams in without any guidelines. The aim of this study was to find out whether the different field-specific needs of interdisciplinary teams can be combined into a general model of common needs for interdisciplinary teams concerned with future-complex problems, and to create a comprehensible framework explaining relevant needs. The method to reach this insight was the development of a theoretical framework that combined field- specific needs of interdisciplinary teams from the fields of healthcare, academic research, social work, and innovative settings. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted in diverse fields of complex future problems, namely business, IT, and innovation consulting, as well as urban development. With the template method, relevant themes from the theoretical framework were tested and further developed to reach a final framework combining existent theory and new data from the investigated fields. The results of this endeavor were that interdisciplinary teams have some common needs, which are also highly interconnected. While some themes appeared to be of central relevance for interdisciplinary teams in general, others were seen as dependent on the specific field. The most crucial needs of interdisciplinary teams were found to be the needs for knowledge exchange, shared language, shared work approaches, an understanding of each discipline’s competencies, and equal status of disciplines. Concluding the study, it was argued that interdisciplinary teams are special team constellations with specific needs which they do not have in common with other kinds of teams. Thus, a managerial approach specifically addressing the interdisciplinary nature of these teams - their needs and interconnections - seems crucial for the success of these teams.