The measurement of team process

"What about Military Decision-Making?": A Bibliometric Review of Published Articles

Decision-making processes in the military domain constitute a strategic field of research in cognitive psychology, although there are currently few scientific publications addressing the topic. Professionals in the field and interested parties need access to data on military decision-making processes to understand where and how the scientific community is directing its investigations on the issue. Military decision-making is a strategic field of study because the military is crucial to the security and defense of a country or community. This work aims to be a point of reference for those involved in various capacities in military decision-making, providing key data regarding research trends over the years, the geographical distribution of scientific productivity, methodologies employed, annual statistics, and the prevalence of the most-investigated terms and topics. Therefore, this study serves as a bibliometric analysis of the literature on military decision-making publihed from 1992 to 2023 on the Scopus and Web of Science databases.

Predicting team-performance and leadership in emergency situations by observing standardised operational procedures: a prospective single-blind simulator-based trial

Background

Performance of interdisciplinary teams and their leaders is crucial in acute medical care and can be monitored by observing specific events. Standardised operational procedures (SOP) are easily observable, whereas the unpredictability of medical emergencies makes performance monitoring in these situations difficult. The aim of this study was therefore to assess whether performance in emergency situations can be predicted by performance observed during an SOP.

Methods

30 intensive care unit teams composed of one staff physician (leader), one resident and three nurses performed a simulated scenario of an elective electrical cardioversion (SOP) followed by a cardiac arrest (emergency). Video recordings obtained during simulations were used for data analysis. The primary outcome was the correlation between performance scores of electrical cardioversion and performance during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (hands-on time, time to first defibrillation).

Results

None of the cardioversion performance scores significantly correlated with resuscitation performance. Leadership scores during electrical cardioversion correlated positively with leadership scores during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (r=0.365, p=0.047). Moreover, there was a positive correlation of leaders being hands-off during both electrical cardioversion and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (r=0.645, p<0.0001).

Conclusions

Team performance in SOP carried no predictive value for emergency situations. Observing teams in easily observable SOP is therefore no suitable substitute for monitoring the performance in medical emergencies. There was a between-situation consistency for specific elements of leadership.

The effect of charismatic leadership on coordinated teamwork: a study in Turkey

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of behavioral dimensions constituting the essence of charismatic leadership (CL) on coordinated teamwork (CTW).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 113 members among 20 ad hoc project teams formed by specialists and assistant specialists employed in a public institution. Simple linear and multiple regression models were employed to analyze the effect of CL on CTW.

Findings

The behavioral dimensions of CL, which include possessing a strategic vision and articulation skill, sensitivity to the environment and sensitivity to member needs, were found to have a significant and positive effect on CTW, while the personal risk and unconventional behavior dispositions of a leader were found to render no significant effect on CTW.

Research limitations/implications

Having tested the effect of CL behaviors on CTW, this particular model provides salient implications in clarifying which CL behaviors particularly render a significant effect on CTW and the consequential effectiveness of teamwork. Nevertheless, there is a need for longitudinal studies conducted in a range of different sectors and institutions.

Originality/value

The originality of this empirical study is that it advances the grasp of the relationship between CTW and the behavioral factors of CL.

Development of a Behavioral Marker System to Assess Intensive Care Unit Team Performance

Teamwork plays a pivotal role in ensuring the quality and safety of care delivery in the intensive care unit (ICU). The measurement of these skills, therefore, is paramount to quantifying performance, providing developmental feedback, and evaluating the impact of initiatives to improve performance. The purpose of this paper is to detail the development of a theoretically-driven and context-driven approach to the measurement of teamwork skills in critical care.

Teamarbeit in innovativen Projekten: Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme der empirischen Forschung

Erfolgreiche Innovationen sind von zentraler Bedeutung für die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit vieler Unternehmen. Diese Erkenntnis ist in der Praxis weit verbreitet und wird von einem reichen Fundus an konzeptionellen Beiträgen der Wissenschaft postuliert. Im Mittelpunkt dieser Innovationsliteratur steht oft die Suche nach zentralen Erfolgsfaktoren, welche die Innovationsleistung einer Unternehmung entscheidend beeinflussen. Ein solcher Erfolgsfaktor, die Teamarbeit, ist Gegenstand dieses Beitrages. Dabei soll zunächst die empirische Evidenz für den Zusammenhang zwischen Teamarbeit und Innovationsleistung geprüft werden. Wenn dieser Effekt sich durch empirische Befunde hinreichend bestätigen läßt, schließen sich für Theorie und Praxis tiefergehende Fragen an: Was konkret ist Teamarbeit? Wie kann sie gemessen werden? Welche Faktoren beeinflussen die Teamarbeit? Mit diesen Fragen beschäftigt sich der zweite Teil dieses Beitrages. Darin werden wichtige empirische Untersuchungen zur Teamarbeit vorgestellt und diskutiert. Besonderes Augenmerk wird auf Ansätze zur zielgerichteten Beeinflussung der Teamarbeit in Innovationsprojekten gelegt. Der Beitrag schließt mit einem Ausblick auf wichtige Forschungsfragen zum Themengebiet Personalmanagement und Teamarbeit.

Advanced practice nursing, health care teams, and perceptions of team effectiveness

This article summarizes the results of an extensive review of the organizational and health care literature of advanced practice nursing (APN) roles, health care teams, and perceptions of team effectiveness. Teams have a long history in health care. Managers play an important role in mobilizing resources, guiding expectations of APN roles in teams and within organizations, and facilitating team process. Researchers have identified a number of advantages to the addition of APN roles in health care teams. The process within health care teams are dynamic and responsive to their surrounding environment. It appears that teams and perceptions of team effectiveness need to be understood in the broader context in which the teams are situated. Key team process are identified for team members to perceive their team as effective. The concepts of teamwork, perceptions of team effectiveness, and the introduction of APN roles in teams have been studied disparately. An exploration of the links between these concepts may further our understanding the health care team's perceptions of team effectiveness when APN roles are introduced. Such knowledge could contribute to the effective deployment of APN roles in health care teams and improve the delivery of health care services to patients and families.

Assessing Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the Influence Behavior Questionnaire

The purpose was to study convergent and discriminant validity of the 1997 Influence Behavior Questionnaire (short version) used to assess lateral attempts at influence. 479 German employees participated in a multitrait-multimethod study with nine trait measures (Rational Persuasion, Inspirational Appeal, Consultation, Ingratiation, Exchange, Personal Appeal, Coalition, Legitimating, Pressure) and two methods (self- and peer-ratings). Data, analyzed with incomplete structural equation models, supported scales' convergent but not discriminant validity of the influence scales.

Supporting Employee Participation: Attitudes and Perceptions in Trainees, Employees and Teams

Research in employee participation has tended to focus on participation outcomes rather than the process of successful implementation, and to evaluate program success in terms of (a) employee attitudes (e.g. satisfaction) post-participation and (b) productivity or effectiveness. We argue that such approaches ignore the process component of successful implementation such as the long-term maintenance of interest in and support for participation among employees. A second problem is that although some research confronts this issue, the factors that moderate attitudes and perceptions of participation have not been examined in detail, nor acknowledged in current models of participation. Two projects are reported. The first examined the effect of seniority and training experience on personal support for participation, perceptions of program reputation and outcomes, and perceived organizational support for participation. Shop floor workers reported less personal support for employee participation and perceived less organizational support for participation than did special function workers and managers. Trainees held more positive perceptions of program outcomes, and they also reported more personal support for employee participation than did trained or untrained employees (regardless of seniority), although they perceived less organizational support for participation. The second study explored goal commitment in employee participation teams on the shop floor. Both prior team experience and task type predicted (perceived) status and influence within the team, which in turn predicted goal commitment. Teamwork training predicted perceived value of external relations, which in turn predicted goal commitment. Results are discussed in terms of implications for successful program implementation.

Team Cognition as Interaction

Teams perform cognitive activities such as making decisions and assessing situations as a unit. The team cognition behind these activities has traditionally been linked to individual knowledge and its distribution across team members. The theory of interactive team cognition instead argues that team cognition resides in team interactions and that it is an activity that takes place in a rich context that needs to be measured at the team level. This article describes this dynamic perspective on team cognition, some research that supports it, and the implications for measuring, understanding, and improving team cognition.

Team workload

Extensive research has examined the effects of workload on individual performance. Despite the increasing prevalence of teams addressing complex tasks with high workload, less attention has focused on workload distributions beyond the individual to the team level, likely due to the inherent complexity of defining and measuring team workload. By drawing upon previous work by Funke et al. (2012), the authors synthesize existing literature detailing individual/team performance and workload theory and empirical findings across research domains. Based on this synthesis, a multilevel, theoretically derived framework of team workload, rooted in the science of individual/team performance in complex, dynamic environments is proposed.

Efficacy of feed forward and feedback signaling for inflations and chest compression pressure during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a newborn mannequin

BACKGROUND

The objective of the study was to evaluate a device that supports professionals during neonatal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The device features a box that generates an audio-prompted rate guidance (feed forward) for inflations and compressions, and a transparent foil that is placed over the chest with marks for inter nipple line and sternum with LED's incorporated in the foil indicating the exerted force (feedback).

METHODS

Ten pairs (nurse/doctor) performed CPR on a newborn resuscitation mannequin. All pairs initially performed two sessions. Thereafter two sessions were performed in similar way, after randomization in 5 pairs that used the device and 5 pairs that performed CPR without the device (controls). A rhythm score was calculated based on the number of CPR cycles that were performed correctly.

RESULTS

The rhythm score with the device improved from 85 ± 14 to 99 ± 2% (P < 0.05). In the control group no differences were observed. The recorded pressures with the device increased from 3.1 ± 1.6 to 4.9 ± 0.8 arbitrary units (P < 0.05). The second performance of the teams showed significant better results for the group with the CPR device compared to the controls.

CONCLUSION

Feed forward and feedback signaling leads to a more constant rhythm and chest compression pressure during CPR.

Conceptualization and measurement of team workload: a critical need

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this article is to present and expand on current theories and measurement techniques for assessing team workload.

BACKGROUND

To date, little research has been conducted on the workload experienced by teams. A validated theory describing team workload, which includes an account of its relation to individual workload, has not been articulated.

METHOD

The authors review several theoretical approaches to team workload.Within the team research literature, attempts to evaluate team workload have typically relied on measures of individual workload. This assumes that such measures retain their validity at the team level of measurement, but empirical research suggests that this method may lack sensitivity to the drivers of team workload.

RESULTS

On the basis of these reviews, the authors advance suggestions concerning a comprehensive theory of team workload and methods for assessing it in team settings. The approaches reviewed include subjective, performance, physiological, and strategy shift measures. Theoretical and statistical difficulties associated with aggregating individual-level workload responses to a team-level measure are discussed.

CONCLUSION

Conception and measurement of team workload have not significantly matured alongside developments in individual workload.

APPLICATION

Team workload remains a complex research area without simple measurement solutions, but as a research domain it remains open for contributions from interested and enterprising researchers.

Human factors tools for improving simulation activities in continuing medical education

Human factors (HF) is a discipline often drawn upon when there is a need to train people to perform complex, high-stakes tasks and effectively assess their performance. Complex tasks often present unique challenges for training and assessment. HF has developed specialized techniques that have been effective in overcoming several of these challenges in work settings such as aviation, process control, and the military. Many HF techniques could be applied to simulation in continuing medical education to enhance effectiveness of simulation and training, yet these techniques are not widely known by medical educators. Three HF techniques are described that could benefit health care simulation in areas of training techniques, assessment, and task design: (1) bandwidth feedback techniques for designing better feedback and task guidance, (2) dual-task assessment techniques that can differentiate levels of expertise in tasks where performance is essentially perfect, and (3) task abstraction techniques for developing task-relevant fidelity for simulations. Examples of each technique are given from work settings in which these principles have been applied successfully. Application of these principles to medical simulation and medical education is discussed. Adapting these techniques to health care could improve training in medical education.

A Longitudinal Examination of the Relationship Between Team Leadership and Performance

The use of teams is ubiquitous and appears to be increasing in contemporary organizations. Teams allow individuals to work together and integrate their diverse knowledge and skills to deal with strategic and operational challenges confronting their organizations. In present study, the authors seek to advance scholarly knowledge on team leadership. They adopt a dynamic approach by collecting longitudinal data from teams competing in a simulated athletic footwear industry. In doing so, they examine the impact of team leadership on performance, as well as the impact of performance on subsequent team leadership, and they examine the mediating role of cohesion and conflict in the relationship between team leadership and performance. They use partial least squares to analyze the data. Finally, they discuss research and practical implications and highlight future research directions.

Assessing teamwork in medical education and practice: relating behavioural teamwork ratings and clinical performance

BACKGROUND

Problems with communication and team coordination are frequently linked to adverse events in medicine. However, there is little experimental evidence to support a relationship between observer ratings of teamwork skills and objective measures of clinical performance.

AIM

Our main objective was to test the hypothesis that observer ratings of team skill will correlate with objective measures of clinical performance.

METHODS

Nine teams of medical students were videotaped performing two types of teamwork tasks: (1) low fidelity classroom-based patient assessment and (2) high fidelity simulated emergent care. Observers used a behaviourally anchored rating scale to rate each individual on skills representative of assertiveness, decision-making, situation assessment, leadership, and communication. A checklist-based measure was used to assess clinical team performance.

RESULTS

Moderate to high inter-observer correlations and moderate correlations between cases established the validity of a behaviourally anchored team skill rating tool for simulated emergent care. There was moderate to high correlation between observer ratings of team skill and checklist-based measures of team performance for the simulated emergent care cases (r = 0.65, p = 0.06 and r = 0.97, p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide prospective evidence of a positive relationship between observer ratings of team skills and clinical team performance in a simulated dynamic health care task.

On teams, teamwork, and team performance: discoveries and developments

OBJECTIVE

We highlight some of the key discoveries and developments in the area of team performance over the past 50 years, especially as reflected in the pages of Human Factors.

BACKGROUND

Teams increasingly have become a way of life in many organizations, and research has kept up with the pace.

METHOD

We have characterized progress in the field in terms of eight discoveries and five challenges.

RESULTS

Discoveries pertain to the importance of shared cognition, the measurement of shared cognition, advances in team training, the use of synthetic task environments for research, factors influencing team effectiveness, models of team effectiveness, a multidisciplinary perspective, and training and technological interventions designed to improve team effectiveness. Challenges that are faced in the coming decades include an increased emphasis on team cognition; reconfigurable, adaptive teams; multicultural influences; and the need for naturalistic study and better measurement.

CONCLUSION

Work in human factors has contributed significantly to the science and practice of teams, teamwork, and team performance. Future work must keep pace with the increasing use of teams in organizations.

APPLICATION

The science of teams contributes to team effectiveness in the same way that the science of individual performance contributes to individual effectiveness.

Effects of chemical protective equipment on team process performance in small unit rescue operations

In the event of a nuclear, biological, or chemical terrorist attack against civilians, both military and civilian emergency response teams must be able to respond and operate efficiently while wearing protective equipment. Chemical protective equipment protects the user by providing a barrier between the individual and hazardous environment. Unfortunately, the same equipment that is designed to support the user can potentially cause heat stress, reduced task efficiency, and reduced range-of-motion. Targeted Acceptable Responses to Generated Events of Tasks (TARGETS), an event-based team performance measurement methodology was used to investigate the effects of Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) on the behavioral processes underlying team performance during simulated rescue tasks. In addition, this study determined which team processes were related to team performance outcomes. Results of six primary analyses indicated that team process performance was not degraded by MOPP 4 on any rescue task and that the team processes critical for successful task performance are task-dependent. This article discusses the implications of these results with respect to the study design and the limitations of using an event-based team performance measurement methodology.

Statistical validation of air-displacement plethysmography for body composition assessment in children

BACKGROUND

Body composition assessment of children has been hindered by the absence of a safe, quick, and easily tolerated gold standard technique. Existing validation studies of air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) have been based on small, narrowly defined samples, using simple linear regression or Bland-Altman analyses.

AIM

Correlations within a multitrait-multimethod matrix (MTMM) and factor analytic methodologies were used to evaluate ADP as a valid and reliable body composition technique for children.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM) and per cent body fat (%BF) were measured in 139 children, 7-10 years old, by ADP, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and anthropometry (ANTH). MTMM and factor analysis were used to compare assessment techniques.

RESULTS

Reliability estimates were lower for ADP than for either ANTH or DXA. Convergent and discriminant correlations between ADP and ANTH or DXA were high for identical as well as non-identical measures. Two body composition factors (Fatness, Leanness) and two technique-related factors (Bod Pod, Anthropometry) were identified.

CONCLUSION

ADP offers a valid and reliable means of assessing body composition in children but does not perform as well as ANTH or DXA. MTMM and factor analytic methodologies offer an effective alternative to assessing body composition.

Using Simulation-Based Training to Improve Patient Safety: What Does It Take?

BACKGROUND

Through simulations health care workers can learn by practicing skills taught and experiencing mistakes before interacting with an actual patient. A number of areas within the health care industry are currently using simulation-based training to help individuals and teams improve patient safety. WHAT IS SIMULATION-BASED TRAINING? The key components of simulation-based training are as follows: performance history/skill inventory, tasks/competencies, training objectives, events/exercises, measures/metrics, performance diagnosis, and feedback and debrief. WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR SIMULATION-BASED TRAINING TO BE EFFECTIVE? To be effective, simulation-based training must be implemented appropriately. The guidelines are as follows: understand the training needs and requirements; instructional features, such as performance measurement and feedback, must be embedded within the simulation; craft scenarios based on guidance from the learning outcomes; create opportunities for assessing and diagnosing individual and/or team performance within the simulation; guide the learning; focus on cognitive/psychological simulation fidelity; form a mutual partnership between subject matter experts and learning experts; and ensure that the training program worked.

CONCLUSION

The health care community can gain significantly from using simulation-based training to reduce errors and improve patient safety when it is designed and delivered appropriately.

Effects of automation of information-processing functions on teamwork

We investigated the effects of automation as applied to different stages of information processing on team performance in a complex decision-making task. Forty teams of 2 individuals performed a simulated Theater Defense Task. Four automation conditions were simulated with computer assistance applied to realistic combinations of information acquisition, information analysis, and decision selection functions across two levels of task difficulty. Multiple measures of team effectiveness and team coordination were used. Results indicated different forms of automation have different effects on teamwork. Compared with a baseline condition, an increase in automation of information acquisition led to an increase in the ratio of information transferred to information requested; an increase in automation of information analysis resulted in higher team coordination ratings; and automation of decision selection led to better team effectiveness under low levels of task difficulty but at the cost of higher workload. The results support the use of early and intermediate forms of automation related to acquisition and analysis of information in the design of team tasks. Decision-making automation may provide benefits in more limited contexts. Applications of this research include the design and evaluation of automation in team environments.

Team training in the skies: does crew resource management (CRM) training work?

The aviation community has invested great amounts of money and effort into crew resource management (CRM) training. Using D. L. Kirkpatrick's (1976) framework for evaluating training, we reviewed 58 published accounts of CRM training to determine its effectiveness within aviation. Results indicated that CRM training generally produced positive reactions, enhanced learning, and promoted desired behavioral changes. However, we cannot ascertain whether CRM has an effect on an organization's bottom line (i.e., safety). We discuss the state of the literature with regard to evaluation of CRM training programs and, as a result, call for the need to conduct systematic, multilevel evaluation efforts that will show the true effectiveness of CRM training. As many evaluations do not collect data across levels (as suggested by D. L. Kirkpatrick, 1976, and by G. M. Alliger, S. I. Tannenbaum, W. Bennett, Jr., & H. Traver, 1997), the impact of CRM cannot be truly determined; thus more and better evaluations are needed and should be demanded.

On the utility of experiential cross-training for team decision-making under time stress

This study investigated the effectiveness of experiential cross-training in a team context for team decision-making under time stress in a simulated naval surveillance task. It was hypothesized that teams whose members explicitly experience all team positions will perform better under time pressure due to a better shared Team Interaction Model (Cannon-Bowers et al. 1993). In addition, it was posited that experiential cross-training would reduce the negative effect of member reconfiguration that can occur in certain military situations. Three groups of teams participated in this study (cross-trained, reconfigured and control). The experiment involved three team training sessions, followed by three time-stressed exercise sessions. During training, one group of teams was cross-trained (CT) by asking each member to perform an entire session at each of the three team positions. Member reconfiguration (where each member was shifted to another's position) was unexpectedly introduced at the first of the exercise sessions for the CT group and for another group (reconfigured) that had not been cross-trained. A third (control) group was neither cross-trained nor reconfigured. During training, the performance of non-CT teams improved more quickly than that of CT teams. During the exercise, the CT group did not achieve the level of performance of the control teams. The immediate effect of team member reconfiguration was to degrade performance significantly for the non-CT teams, but not for CT teams. The findings are discussed in terms of the multiple mental models' view of team performance (Cannon-Bowers et al. 1993) and the authors discuss the relative utility of cross-training when overall training time is fixed.

Team performance in process control: influences of interface design and staffing levels

A study performed at the OECD Halden Reactor Project compared the effects of interface design and staffing levels on various aspects of team performance. Teams of nuclear power plant operators participated in challenging simulator scenarios, working in either a simulated conventional plant, with a hard-control interface, or in a simulated advanced plant, with a computerized interface. Two-team staffing levels, normal and minimum, were evaluated in each plant condition. All teams participated in the same five study conditions, lasting 1-3 h each. Several measures assessed team performance: situation awareness, workload, rated team interactions, rated overall performance and objective performance. The findings revealed that combinations of interface design and staffing levels supported different aspects of performance. Larger crews consistently performed better than smaller crews in the conventional plant. In the advanced plant, both crew types performed equally well; however, smaller crews had better situation awareness than larger crews. In general, performance was better for crews using the advanced plant interface, but workload was higher. Workload also was consistently higher in the smaller crews than in the larger crews, regardless of interface type. Links between the performance measures were also noted.

Team mental models: techniques, methods, and analytic approaches

Effective team functioning requires the existence of a shared or team mental model among members of a team. However, the best method for measuring team mental models is unclear. Methods reported vary in terms of how mental model content is elicited and analyzed or represented. We review the strengths and weaknesses of vatrious methods that have been used to elicit, represent, and analyze individual and team mental models and provide recommendations for method selection and development. We describe the nature of mental models and review techniques that have been used to elicit and represent them. We focus on a case study on selecting a method to examine team mental models in industry. The processes involved in the selection and development of an appropriate method for eliciting, representing, and analyzing team mental models are described. The criteria for method selection were (a) applicability to the problem under investigation; (b) practical considerations - suitability for collecting data from the targeted research sample; and (c) theoretical rationale - the assumption that associative networks in memory are a basis for the development of mental models. We provide an evaluation of the method matched to the research problem and make recommendations for future research. The practical applications of this research include the provision of a technique for analyzing team mental models in organizations, the development of methods and processes for eliciting a mental model from research participants in their normal work environment, and a survey of available methodologies for mental model research.