What is Task Interdependence?

Task Interdependence is a set of rules and requirements to determine how information, materials and expertise will be shared between team members assigned to interdependent tasks. It is a functional way to plan structured work through defining interdependencies between tasks and elaborating roles for people involved in the work.

When specifying interdependence of certain tasks, there is an increased chance of conflicts between the tasks because the overall structure of work becomes more and more complicated, with multiple levels and sub-levels. In order to avoid any conflicts between interdependent tasks as well as clarify roles of team members, it is recommended to create team organization charter which highlights the following information:

• Names of team members
• Roles with details on key duties and responsibilities
• Supervisor-subordinate relationships
• Rules of sharing information, materials and expertise
• Requirements for sharing information, materials and expertise
• Reporting rules

A team charter helps design a multi-level hierarchy of interdependent tasks. Every task within such a hierarchy is associated with an appropriate role and linked to interdependent tasks. A team charter also lets manage workload of every team member through providing a clear illustration of assigned duties and interdependent tasks.