Jessica L. Wildman

Trust Development in Swift Starting Action Teams A Multilevel Framework

Swift starting action teams (STATs) are increasingly prevalent in organizations, and the development of trust is often a critical issue for their effectiveness. However, current theory and research do not provide a clear picture regarding how trust toward the team (i.e., the team as the target) is developed in these settings. The primary contribution of this article is to present a theoretical framework describing how individual-level trust toward one’s team is developed in STAT contexts. This article integrates several existing trust theories into one comprehensive context-specific multilevel theory of how trust develops in STATs from cognitive, affective, behavioral, and contextual perspectives. This framework furthers our understanding of the unique antecedents of initial trust in STATs, how trust attitudes are adjusted over the short amount of time the team interacts, and how the team context influences this developmental process.

Team knowledge research: emerging trends and critical needs.

Objective: This article provides a systematic review of the team knowledge literature and guidance for further research. Background: Recent research has called attention to the need for the improved study and understanding of team knowledge. Team knowledge refers to the higher level knowledge structures that emerge from the interactions of individual team members. Method: We conducted a systematic review of the team knowledge literature, focusing on empirical work that involves the measurement of team knowledge constructs. For each study, we extracted author degree area, study design type, study setting, participant type, task type, construct type, elicitation method, aggregation method, measurement timeline, and criterion domain. Results: Our analyses demonstrate that many of the methodological characteristics of team knowledge research can be linked back to the academic training of the primary author and that there are considerable gaps in our knowledge with regard to the relationships between team knowledge constructs, the mediating mechanisms between team knowledge and performance, and relationships with criteria outside of team performance, among others. We also identify categories of team knowledge not yet examined based on an organizing framework derived from a synthesis of the literature. Conclusion: There are clear opportunities for expansion in the study of team knowledge; the science of team knowledge would benefit from a more holistic theoretical approach. Application: Human factors researchers are increasingly involved in the study of teams. This review and the resulting organizing framework provide researchers with a summary of team knowledge research over the past 10 years and directions for improving further research.

Task Types and Team-Level Attributes Synthesis of Team Classification Literature

Within team research, there is no shortage of literature classifying teams. However, the team taxonomic literature suffers from a few limitations. First, many taxonomies claim to classify teams into mutually exclusive classes, yet when examined closely, are not. Second, some of the most well-known taxonomies are descriptive of various tasks teams engage in, but not of the holistic team-level properties that define different types of teams. A clear understanding of both is necessary if human resource development (HRD) professionals are to develop and train different teams effectively. Therefore, the purpose of the current article is twofold: to present an integrative taxonomy of task types and a set of team-level characteristics that have been carefully synthesized from the prior literature and to explain how these tools can be used in conjunction to inform team-oriented HRD research and practice.

Measuring cognition in teams: a cross-domain review.

Objective: The purpose of this article is twofold: to provide a critical cross-domain evaluation of team cognition measurement options and to provide novice researchers with practical guidance when selecting a measurement method. Background: A vast selection of measurement approaches exist for measuring team cognition constructs including team mental models, transactive memory systems, team situation awareness, strategic consensus, and cognitive processes. Methods: Empirical studies and theoretical articles were reviewed to identify all of the existing approaches for measuring team cognition. These approaches were evaluated based on theoretical perspective assumed, constructs studied, resources required, level of obtrusiveness, internal consistency reliability, and predictive validity. Results: The evaluations suggest that all existing methods are viable options from the point of view of reliability and validity, and that there are potential opportunities for cross-domain use. For example, methods traditionally used only to measure mental models may be useful for examining transactive memory and situation awareness. The selection of team cognition measures requires researchers to answer several key questions regarding the theoretical nature of team cognition and the practical feasibility of each method. Conclusions: We provide novice researchers with guidance regarding how to begin the search for a team cognition measure and suggest several new ideas regarding future measurement research. Applications: We provide (1) a broad overview and evaluation of existing team cognition measurement methods, (2) suggestions for new uses of those methods across research domains, and (3) critical guidance for novice researchers looking to measure team cognition.

Practicing What We Preach Teaching Teams Using Validated Team Science

The scientist-practitioner model, upon which many academic programs (including coursework on teams) are built, suggests that education should focus on more than just rote knowledge of a topic. The training literature also suggests that education must go beyond information to include demonstration, practice, and feedback. Accordingly, we suggest that educators teaching courses on teams should provide students not only with declarative knowledge regarding the science of teams, but also with practical experiences that will develop skilled team scientist-practitioners. We describe an example of how scientific team training was incorporated through experiential learning activities into a graduate-level psychology course on work teams. We conclude with a discussion of how this example represents an innovative approach to the pedagogy of teams, how our methods could be applied to other courses on small groups, and how to further the incorporation of validated team science into the classroom.

Performance measurement at work: A multilevel perspective.

For decades, one of the primary goals of organizational research has been the improvement and management of organizational performance. Inherent to the goal of improving performance is the concept of performance measurement (PM). PM is the mechanism that allows managers and researchers to gain an understanding of individual, team, and overall organizational performance. Without the ability to accurately measure a construct such as performance, it is impossible to truly understand, control, or improve it. As Sink and Tuttle (1989) asserted, one cannot manage what one cannot measure. Ultimately, the effective training and management of employees, teams, and organizations in any context is contingent on the quality of PM. Accordingly, much effort has been devoted over the past several decades to exploring theories, methods, and practices associated with PM (e.g., Bititci, Turner, & Begemann, 2000; Campbell, McCloy, Oppler, & Sager, 1993; Folan & Browne, 2005; Gershoni & Rudy, 1981; Kendall & Salas, 2004; Pun & White, 2005). The PM literature can generally be categorized into three distinct perspectives: individual-level PM, teamlevel PM, and organizational-level PM. Very little research has simultaneously examined multiple levels. This is problematic given that actual performance in organizations takes place at all three levels simultaneously, and perhaps more important, all three levels of performance are intertwined. Teams are becoming the predominant method for achieving organizational goals. These teams are made up of individual employees, who actually engage in behaviors that lead to performance. Thus, there is a need to integrate these three streams of PM research into one comprehensive understanding of PM and its implications. To address this need, this chapter presents a multilevel perspective on the field of PM. First, we discuss the criterion problem, which represents a broad issue underscoring the importance of PM. Next, we briefly describe five critical considerations when choosing or designing any PM system. Then, after the core underlying issues are clear, we dive into PM as described from the individual, team, and organizational perspectives. This includes the general definition of performance, key theories, and common measurement strategies used in each stream of literature. Once each perspective is discussed separately, we discuss a multilevel approach to PM. The chapter concludes with a review of current trends requiring future research and some concluding remarks. (See also Vol. 2, chap. 9, this handbook.)

Culture, Communication, and Conflict: A Review of the Global Virtual Team Literature

Global virtual teams (GVTs) are teams distributed across geographical and cultural boundaries which have become more prevalent as organizations become more global. GVTs are a foundation of an agile organizational structure poised to capitalize on opportunities around the globe. This introductory literature review will build upon previous reviews within the literature to summarize the existing published knowledge on three key determinants of GVT success: culture, communication, and conflict. Arguments for culture to be viewed as a primary and unique antecedent of GVT effectiveness, due to the influence it has on communication and conflict, will be presented. Culture provides an additional layer of complexity that must be overcome when measuring the effect of other determinants, but particularly communication and conflict, on GVT outcomes. Finally, limitations within the literature and the directions for future research are presented.

Leading Global Teams Means Dealing with Different

This introductory chapter sets the stage for the remainder of the volume by establishing the increasing prevalence and relevance of global teams in today’s organizations. We characterize global teams as multinational, multicultural, multiorganizational, self-managed, and geographically distributed, and suggest that these characteristics compound to create an unprecedented level of complexity that must be navigated carefully in order to achieve success. We further suggest that one of the underlying cognitive processes that can inhibit global team success is the tendency to categorize others as unfamiliar (i.e., different) and threatening, and that it is the skill of self-regulation (i.e., the set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes that allow individuals to focus attention, suppress biases, maintain awareness, and engage in conscious behaviors) that allows some individuals to avoid this cognitive pitfall and engage in cross-boundary competent behavior. We also provide previews of each of the remaining chapters included within the volume, highlighting how these chapters touch upon the basic concepts of unfamiliarity, self-regulation, and mindfulness.

Making it practical: simulation, naturalistic decision making, and complexity in team performance

There has been a lack of focus on multi-level issues within leadership research. Dionne and Dionne (2009) address this gap in the research by presenting a Monte Carlo simulation examining leadership at four levels of analysis within a group decision-making context. While their work makes a strong contribution to the sciences of leadership, group decision making, and team complexity, many aspects of the research demonstrate potential for great expansion and improvement. Toward this purpose, this commentary discusses and provides suggestions regarding the topics of computer simulation in team research, group decision-making theory, and the modeling of team complexity. It is intended to stimulate continued critical thinking and more innovative, practical, and carefully designed research efforts.

Guided mindfulness: A Self-regulatory approach to experiential learning of complex skills

ABSTRACT Organisational changes have created the need for continuous learning environments and facilitated experiential learning for complex skill acquisition. Experiential learning is the process of acquiring knowledge and skills from challenging situations through focused attention and reflection. For instance, many organisations place employees in challenging or developmental job assignments in the hope that the employee will learn something from the experience and transfer that learning to other situations. Unfortunately, there are many drawbacks to letting people learn complex skills ‘in the wild.’ Based on established theories of mindfulness and self-regulation, this article proposes an individualised learning approach called Guided Mindfulness to structure and guide experiential learning.