Interactions of team mental models and monitoring behaviors predict team performance in simulated anesthesia inductions.

In the present study, we investigated how two team mental model properties (similarity vs. accuracy) and two forms of monitoring behavior (team vs. systems) interacted to predict team performance in anesthesia. In particular, we were interested in whether the relationship between monitoring behavior and team performance was moderated by team mental model properties. Thirty-one two-person teams consisting of anesthesia resident and anesthesia nurse were videotaped during a simulated anesthesia induction of general anesthesia. Team mental models were assessed with a newly developed measurement tool based on the concept-mapping technique. Monitoring behavior was coded by two organizational psychologists using a structured observation system. Team performance was rated by two expert anesthetists using a performance-checklist. Moderated multiple regression analysis revealed that team mental model similarity moderated the relationship between team monitoring and performance; a higher level of team monitoring in the absence of a similar team mental model had a negative effect on performance. Furthermore, team mental model similarity and accuracy interacted to predict team performance. Our findings provide new insights on factors influencing the relationship between team processes and team performance in health care. When investigating the effectiveness of a specific team coordination behavior, team cognition has to be taken into account. This represents a necessary and compelling extension of the popular process-outcome relationship on which previous teamwork research in health care has focused. Moreover, the current study adds further external validity to the concept of team mental models by highlighting its usefulness in health care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental model metrics and team adaptability: A multi-facet multi-method examination.

This paper empirically examines the convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of three team mental model measurement approaches. Specifically, this study measures the similarity (MM-similarity) and quality (MM-quality) facets of team strategy-focused mental models using structural networks, priority rankings, and importance ratings. The convergent and divergent relationships among the three mental model metrics are then examined via a multi-facet multi-method matrix. Finally, the relative utility of each metric for understanding the relationships between team mental models, team adaptability, and decision effectiveness are compared. The study was conducted in a laboratory setting, modeling 56 four-person decision-making teams. Results indicate little convergent and extensive discriminant validity across the three mental model metrics. In addition, only mental models measured using the structural networks metric were found to have predictive validity in relation to team adaptation and performance. The quality and similarity of team structural networks were found to have interactive effects in relation to adaptation such that mental model quality was most strongly related to adaptation for teams with low mental model similarity and unrelated to adaptation for teams with high similarity. In turn, adaptation was critical for team decision effectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Team composition, cognition, and effectiveness: Examining mental model similarity and accuracy.

This study examined the relationships between team cognitive ability and personality composition in relation to the similarity (MM-similarity) and accuracy (MM-accuracy) of team task-focused mental models. The relationships between MM-accuracy and MM-similarity with multiple indicators of team effectiveness were also examined. Sixty-seven three-person teams performed a simulated search and capture task. Results indicate that the team mean-level of cognitive ability was positively related to both MM-accuracy and MM-similarity, and the team mean-level of team agreeableness was positively related to MM-similarity. In turn, MM-accuracy was positively related to perceived coordination processes and goal accomplishment, but not team viability. In contrast, MM-similarity was positively related to team viability, but not goal accomplishment or perceived coordination processes. Implications of the findings for understanding factors that facilitate the emergence of task-focused mental models in teams with a limited life span or during the early stages of team development are discussed, along with the implications of team mental models for team success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of cross-training on team effectiveness.

The authors examined the role of cross-training in developing shared team-interaction mental models, coordination, and performance in a 2-experiment study using computer simulation methodology (for Experiment 1, N=45 teams; for Experiment 2, N=49 teams). Similar findings emerged across the 2 experiments. First, cross-training enhanced the development of shared team-interaction models. Second, coordination mediated the relationship between shared mental models and team performance. However, there was some inconsistency in the findings concerning the depth of cross-training necessary for improving shared mental models. Results are discussed in terms of the impact of different levels of cross-training on team effectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis.

This study provides a meta-analysis of research on the associations between relationship conflict, task conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. Consistent with past theorizing, results revealed strong and negative correlations between relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. In contrast to what has been suggested in both academic research and introductory textbooks, however, results also revealed strong and negative (instead of the predicted positive) correlations between task conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. As predicted, conflict had stronger negative relations with team performance in highly complex (decision making, project, mixed) than in less complex (production) tasks. Finally, task conflict was less negatively related to team performance when task conflict and relationship conflict were weakly, rather than strongly, correlated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring shared team mental models: A meta-analysis.

Although shared team mental models are believed to be important to team functioning, substantial interstudy differences in the manner in which mental models are operationalized has impeded progress in this area. We use meta-analysis to cumulate 23 independent studies that have empirically examined shared mental models (SMMs) in relation to team process and performance and test three aspects of measurement as potential moderators: elicitation method, structure representation, and representation of emergence. Results indicate the way in which SMMs are measured and represented at the team level of analysis reveal meaningful distinctions in observed relationships. Specifically, shared mental model operationalization impacts the observed relationship between SMMs and team process; importantly, only methods that model the structure or organization of knowledge are predictive of process. Conversely, while the magnitude of the relationship differed across measurement method, SMMs were positively related to team performance regardless of the manner of operationalization. In summary, knowledge structure is predictive of team process, and both knowledge content and structure are predictive of team performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deep-level composition variables as predictors of team performance: A meta-analysis.

This study sought to unify the team composition literature by using meta-analytic techniques to estimate the relationships between specified deep-level team composition variables (i.e., personality factors, values, abilities) and team performance. The strength of the team composition variable and team performance relationships was moderated by the study setting (lab or field) and the operationalization of the team composition variable. In lab settings, team minimum and maximum general mental ability and team mean emotional intelligence were related to team performance. Only negligible effects were observed in lab settings for the personality factor and team performance relationships, as well as the value and team performance relationships. In contrast, team minimum agreeableness and team mean conscientiousness, openness to experience, collectivism, and preference for teamwork emerged as strong predictors of team performance in field studies. Results can be used to effectively compose teams in organizations and guide future team composition research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of shared mental models on team process and performance.

The influence of teammates' shared mental models on team processes and performance was tested using 56 undergraduate dyads who "flew" a series of missions on a personal-computer-based flight-combat simulation. The authors both conceptually and empirically distinguished between teammates' task- and team-based mental models and indexed their convergence or "sharedness" using individually completed paired-comparisons matrices analyzed using a network-based algorithm. The results illustrated that both shared-team- and task-based mental models related positively to subsequent team process and performance. Furthermore, team processes fully mediated the relationship between mental model convergence and team effectiveness. Results are discussed in terms of the role of shared cognitions in team effectiveness and the applicability of different interventions designed to achieve such convergence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Co-leader similarity and group climate in group interventions: Testing the co-leadership, team cognition-team diversity model.

This study tested a coleadership, team cognition-team diversity model of coleader similarity and dissimilarity and its effect on group processes. This model suggests that group coleaders will be most effective when coleaders share cognitions about the group but are dissimilar in terms of their skill sets and behavior within the group. Specifically, the current study examined whether coleader dissimilarity in behavior was related to the group climate in eight coled intergroup dialogue groups at a large university. Results gave partial support to the coleader, team cognition-team diversity model, as coleader dissimilarity was related to increased overall engagement and conflict within the group. Coleader dissimilarity was related to decreasing conflict and increasing avoiding, suggesting that the relationship between coleader similarity and group processes is more complex than implied by the coleadership, team cognition-team diversity model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differentiating Knowledge in Teams: The Effect of Shared Declarative and Procedural Knowledge on Team Performance.

The relative effects of sharing mental models (typically defined as declarative knowledge structures) and sharing procedural knowledge on team process and performance were assessed. Forty-eight students completed a series of missions as two-person teams using a PC-based tank simulation. The results showed some support for earlier findings. Shared and accurate mental models of the task were related to team process, which was in turn related to team performance. In contrast, shared procedural knowledge was negatively related to team performance. Accurate procedural knowledge was positively related to team performance. Results are discussed in terms of the effect of sharing knowledge in teams on performance, and the implications for team training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Building team adaptive capacity: The roles of sensegiving and team composition.

The current study draws on motivated information processing in groups theory to propose that leadership functions and composition characteristics provide teams with the epistemic and social motivation needed for collective information processing and strategy adaptation. Three-person teams performed a city management decision-making simulation (N=74 teams; 222 individuals). Teams first managed a simulated city that was newly formed and required growth strategies and were then abruptly switched to a second simulated city that was established and required revitalization strategies. Consistent with hypotheses, external sensegiving and team composition enabled distinct aspects of collective information processing. Sensegiving prompted the emergence of team strategy mental models (i.e., cognitive information processing); psychological collectivism facilitated information sharing (i.e., behavioral information processing); and cognitive ability provided the capacity for both the cognitive and behavioral aspects of collective information processing. In turn, team mental models and information sharing enabled reactive strategy adaptation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managing diversity and enhancing team outcomes: The promise of transformational leadership.

In a sample of 62 research and development (R&D) teams, the authors examined transformational leadership as a moderator of the relationship of age, nationality, and educational background diversity with team outcomes. When levels of transformational leadership were high, nationality and educational diversity were positively related to team leaders' longitudinal ratings of team performance. These relationships were nonsignificant when transformational leadership was low. Age diversity was not related to team performance when transformational leadership was high, and it was negatively related to team performance when transformational leadership was low. Two mediated moderation effects help explain these findings. Transformational leadership moderated the relationship of the 3 examined diversity dimensions with the elaboration of task-relevant information, which in turn was positively associated with team performance. Moreover, transformational leadership moderated the relationship of the 3 diversity types with collective team identification, which in turn was positively related to the elaboration of task-relevant information. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results. Overall, this study suggests that transformational leadership can foster the utilization of the potential, but frequently untapped, benefits entailed by both demographic and informational/cognitive team diversity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What makes a good team player? Personality and team effectiveness.

Good team players are often defined in trait terms; that is, they are described as dependable, flexible, or cooperative. Our goal is to examine the relationship between team member personality traits and team effectiveness. However, to understand the effects of personality on team performance requires greater specificity in how personality is described and in how team effectiveness is described. A hierarchical model of team member personality is presented that defines higher-level personality traits and specific facets relevant to team performance. Next, a classification of the core teamwork dimensions underlying effective team performance is presented. Finally, predictions are derived linking team member personality facets to specific teamwork requirements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Building the infrastructure: The effects of role identification behaviors on team cognition development and performance.

The primary purpose of this study was to extend theory and research regarding the emergence of mental models and transactive memory in teams. Utilizing Kozlowski, Gully, Nason, and Smith’s (1999) model of team compilation, we examined the effect of role identification behaviors and posited that such behaviors represent the initial building blocks of team cognition during the role compilation phase of team development. We then hypothesized that team mental models and transactive memory would convey the effects of these behaviors onto team performance in the team compilation phase of development. Results from 60 teams working on a command-and-control simulation supported our hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding team innovation: The role of team processes and structures.

The present study focused on innovation of teams, examining the contributions of team interaction processes (exchanging information, learning, motivating, and negotiating) and structures (functional heterogeneity and frequency of meetings) to innovation. Specifically, it was hypothesized that (a) team structures will be positively related to team innovation, (b) team heterogeneity will be positively related to team interaction processes, (c) team interaction processes will be positively related to team innovation, and (d) team interaction processes will mediate the relationship between team heterogeneity and team innovation. Results from a sample of 48 intact teams in elementary and secondary schools supported the main hypotheses. These results imply that the development of mutual interaction processes is a crucial mechanism for translating team heterogeneity into innovation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of justice in team member satisfaction with the leader and attachment to the team.

This study examined the effects of team decision accuracy, team member decision influence, leader consideration behaviors, and justice perceptions on staff members' satisfaction with the leader and attachment to the team in hierarchical decision-making teams. The authors proposed that staff members' justice perceptions would mediate the relationship between (a) team decision accuracy, (b) the amount of influence a staff member has in the team leader's decision, and (c) the leader's consideration behaviors and staff attachment to the team and satisfaction with the leader. The results of an experiment involving 128 participants in a total of 64 teams, who made recommendations to a confederate acting as the team leader, generally support the proposed model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transactive memory system links work team characteristics and performance.

Teamwork and coordination of expertise among team members with different backgrounds are increasingly recognized as important for team effectiveness. Recently, researchers have examined how team members rely on transactive memory system (TMS; D. M. Wegner, 1987) to share their distributed knowledge and expertise. To establish the ecological validity and generality of TMS research findings, this study sampled 104 work teams from a variety of organizational settings in China and examined the relationships between team characteristics, TMS, and team performance. The results suggest that task interdependence, cooperative goal interdependence, and support for innovation are positively related to work teams' TMS and that TMS is related to team performance; moreover, structural equation analysis indicates that TMS mediates the team characteristics-performance links. Findings have implications both for team leaders to manage their work teams effectively and for team members to improve their team performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Team Role Test: Development and validation of a team role knowledge situational judgment test.

The main objectives in this research were to introduce the concept of team role knowledge and to investigate its potential usefulness for team member selection. In Study 1, the authors developed a situational judgment test, called the Team Role Test, to measure knowledge of 10 roles relevant to the team context. The criterion-related validity of this measure was examined in 2 additional studies. In a sample of academic project teams (N = 93), team role knowledge predicted team member role performance (r = .34). Role knowledge also provided incremental validity beyond mental ability and the Big Five personality factors in the prediction of role performance. The results of Study 2 revealed that the predictive validity of role knowledge generalizes to team members in a work setting (N = 82, r = .30). The implications of the results for selection in team environments are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transactive memory in organizational groups: The effects of content, consensus, specialization, and accuracy on group performance.

Previous research on transactive memory has found a positive relationship between transactive memory system development and group performance in single project laboratory and ad hoc groups. Closely related research on shared mental models and expertise recognition supports these findings. In this study, the author examined the relationship between transactive memory systems and performance in mature, continuing groups. A group's transactive memory system, measured as a combination of knowledge stock, knowledge specialization, transactive memory consensus, and transactive memory accuracy, is positively related to group goal performance, external group evaluations, and internal group evaluations. The positive relationship with group performance was found to hold for both task and external relationship transactive memory systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A contingency model of conflict and team effectiveness.

The authors develop and test theoretical extensions of the relationships of task conflict, relationship conflict, and 2 dimensions of team effectiveness (performance and team-member satisfaction) among 2 samples of work teams in Taiwan and Indonesia. Findings show that relationship conflict moderates the task conflict–team performance relationship. Specifically, the relationship is curvilinear in the shape of an inverted U when relationship conflict is low, but the relationship is linear and negative when relationship conflict is high. The results for team-member satisfaction are more equivocal, but the findings provide some evidence that relationship conflict exacerbates the negative relationship between task conflict and team-member satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)