Albert S. Glickman

An Analysis of Team Evolution and Maturation

Abstract Although there has been little research emphasis on the temporal aspects of team development, conventional wisdom has suggested that teams develop in a linear fashion through a sequence of phases. More recent investigations of work groups indicate, however, that teams develop through a variety of alternative paths rather than a single sequence of developmental phases. These lines of thinking are integrated here in the form of a model called Team Evolution And Maturation (TEAM), which helps to guide consideration of the development of team performance. The results of an experimental investigation are presented as a preliminary test of the models suggestion that team development is characterized by the differential maturation of taskwork and teamwork skills. Results indicate that task- and team-related activities were distinguishable in the middle phases of training, but not at the beginning and end of training. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for investigations of team...

The Evolution and Maturation of Operational Teams in a Training Environment

Several models of team development were synthesized from the team performance/team training literature as the basis for a working model of Team Evolution And Maturation (TEAM). The TEAM methodology is designed to investigate the development of teamwork during training of operational teams. The TEAM model suggests that the life cycle of a team consists of as many as seven developmental stages. The theoretical foundations and description of the model are discussed as well as its relevance to team training.

Changes in Team Behaviors during Operational Training

Instruments designed to validate the TEAM model (cf. Salas, Morgan, & Glickman, 1987) were field tested in an operational team training setting. The results and techniques of the novel analyses of the Trainee Self-Report Questionnaire are reported. The resuslts provide empirical support for the concepts embodied in the TEAM model. Use of the Trainee Self-Report Questionnaire as an instructional team training aid is explored and addressed.

Type Size and Performance of the Elderly on the Wonderlic Personnel Test

Corporations concerned with fair employment practices often use selection instruments. The purpose of this study was to determine if an enlarged-print version of the Wonderlic Personnel Test would significantly improve the scores of elderly subjects. One hundred sixteen individuals between the ages of 40 and 84 served as subjects in the experiment. Although print size was not significantly related to the overall score on the test, older individuals tended to score lowerthan their younger counterparts. The results of this study cast doubt on the validity of the age adjustments recommended for the Wonderlic and demonstrate the need for further research in this area.

Charting A Course

What changes can we expect in the years ahead that will have major effects upon the world of work and our life styles? Already in place as a crucial determinant is the changing mix of our population. Quite obviously, this condition creates a need to put research in applied psychology and management science in a proactive posture; that is, to try to anticipate the problems that lie ahead and the research that should be started now to meet them, as Robert Miller (1977) has put it, “so that storm centers can be anticipated early enough to enable their dissipation” (p. 420). Related to this is the persistent charge that academia, and the research enterprise that it sponsors, provide the tools and create a mind set better suited to meet conditions faced by the last generation than the next generation. So it is that, just as the nation has come to the realization that it confronts a future in which it must draw upon a different mix of energy resources, it must also now take into account that significant changes are taking place in the mix of its human resources.