PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe and defend a generative model for understanding effective self‐regulating teams from a distinctively psychological perspective that has implications for both research and practice.Design/methodology/approachThe paper complements Hackman's work on the critical conditions for effecting “self‐regulated” teamwork with an understanding of team psychology, as the basis for evolving a propositional model of effective teamwork.FindingsAssuming various structural pre‐requisites, it is proposed that effective teamwork is generated by a social self‐identification process, upon which there are “emergent states” across affective (commitment, cohesion), motivational (drive to secure and maintain positive self‐esteem), cognitive (shared cognition) and behavioural (intra‐team and inter‐team processes) dimensions.Research limitations/implicationsConsiderations for further testing, conceptual and methodological refinement, are highlighted.Practical implicationsThe model affords clear pragmatic implications for leveraging more effective teamwork in organizational contexts.Originality/valueThe propositional model in the paper integrates and builds on previous thinking into a more generative understanding of effective team work (i.e. what makes teamwork possible and how can this be sustained) that takes into account the importance of context in accounting for team success.

No abstract