The Relationship between Teamwork Knowledge and Teamwork Behavior

Many organizations utilize a team-focused work structure in the workplace. Researchers have studied how working as a team can improve organizational outcomes such as productivity and employee satisfaction (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). However, not all teams make positive outcomes (Hackman, 1998). Previous research has shown that effective teamwork can facilitate group and organizational effectiveness (Salas, Stagl, Burke, & Goodwin, 2007). Various models of teamwork process have been developed (Marks, Mathieu, & Zaccaro, 2001; Rousseau, Aube, & Savoie, 2006; Salas, Sims, & Burke, 2005). A meta-analysis found a consistent relationship between the ten dimensions of teamwork identified by Marks et al. (2001) and team performance (LePine, Piccolo, Jackson, Mathieu, & Saul, 2008). Previous research has shown that team members with high cognitive ability, certain personality characteristics, and job-related knowledge and skills may contribute to better performance (Devine & Philips, 2001; Mathieu & Schulze, 2006; Morgeson, Reider, & Campion, 2005; Neuman & Wright, 1999). Among those characteristics, having aggregate member knowledge of teamwork showed a positive relationship with team performance (McClough & Rogelberg, 2003), but the relationship between individual teamwork knowledge and individual teamwork behaviors has not been widely examined. In this study, the relationship between teamwork knowledge and teamwork behavior will be examined. Building on the main relationship, this study will also investigate the impact of persons in core roles within a team. Certain characteristics of core team members, whose position would not be easily replaced and could not be completed by any other teammates, are known to be more important for overall team performance (Humphrey, Morgeson, & Mannor, 2009). The following hypotheses will be examined: Hypothesis 1: At the individual level, teamwork knowledge is positively related to teamwork behavior at the individual level. Hypothesis 2: Teamwork knowledge (Teamwork SJT score) of the core member is positively related to teamwork behavior of the core role-holder. Hypothesis 3: At the team level, there will be a positive correlation between teamwork knowledge and teamwork. Hypothesis 4: There is a positive relationship between the core member’s teamwork knowledge and team-level teamwork. The study will utilize teams participating in high-fidelity simulations of airline operations. Analysis plans will be discussed

Shared and Unshared Information in an Employee Selection Process

This study tested two competing theories describing how information is shared in a selection process. The information processing theory says critical unshared information, important information not originally known, is more impactful than shared information, information known prior to making a decision. The alternative theory is social validation which says shared information is more impactful than unshared information. The importance of the information as well as when the information was provided, either prior to or after making an initial preference, was used to test each theory. Critical unshared information was more impactful in this study. Further results seem to suggest interactive effects between social validity and informational value of information provided by others

Leader-follower pacing style discrepancies and their relationships with individual stress and performance

Workers have different pacing styles, which are defined as how workers distribute their effort over time to complete a task. Some workers prefer a high rate of initial effort, some choose a medium rate of consistent effort, and others enjoy a high rate of effort near the task’s due date. Furthermore, shared mental models among workers help reduce stress and increase performance by keeping everyone on the same page. As a result, it is predicted that discrepancies between leader and follower pacing styles may be one unshared mental model that positively relates to individual stress, negatively relates to individual performance, and negatively relates to group performance. To test these hypotheses, previously collected data from a high fidelity aviation simulation lab will be analyzed. This lab includes a leader who manages several followers to safely coordinate flights. If the aforementioned hypotheses are supported, then pacing styles may be important to consider with Leader-Member Exchange Theory. This theory posits that leaders and followers share a relationship built upon growth through work. If the leader and follower have different approaches to work, though, the leader-follower relationship could be strained. To further understand the leader-follower dynamic, this study’s variables are encouraged to be considered

Do Effective After-Action Reviews Lead to Better Performance?

After-action reviews (AARs) are meetings in which teams meet to recall, analyze, and set goals according to previous performance. Strong evidence indicates that the use AARs can enhance performance (Tannenbaum, Cerasoli, 2013; LePine, Piccolo, Jackson, Mathieu, Saul, 2008). However, these studies do not examine the relationship between quality of AAR performance and team task performance. The present study utilizes 25 teams operating a simulated airline and examines the relationship between performance during the AAR and both subsequent and previous task performance. The NASA Flight Operations Center – Unified Simulation (FOCUS) lab at Middle Tennessee State University emulates a high-fidelity flight operations center where team members work together to operate a virtual airline. Each team participates in three simulations of which progressively increase in difficulty. AARs take place between simulations, allowing for teams to make meaning of their past performance, create goals accordingly, and ultimately improve. The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between AAR effectiveness and simulation performance of teams. Correlations did not reveal significant relationships between AAR performance and task performance. Suggestions for further research are discussed including utilizing a measure of adaptation rather than the current task performance measure which reflects routine performance

Engagement, perceived leadership effectiveness, and performance as predictors of voluntary and involuntary turnover among nurses

Turnover is costly to organizations due to lost productivity and employee replacement expenses. Nurses have particularly high voluntary turnover rates and are in high demand. The purpose of the research project is to examine predictors of voluntary and involuntary turnover among nurses. Hypotheses are that engagement and positive perceptions of leadership will be negatively related to voluntary turnover and stronger predictors of voluntary than involuntary turnover. Additionally, performance rating will be negatively related to involuntary turnover and a stronger predictor of involuntary than voluntary turnover. Data will be collected from several thousand nurses at geographically dispersed hospitals owned by a healthcare investment company. Engagement, perceptions of leadership, and performance data will be collected from records from the 2019 employee survey and performance appraisal process. Employee engagement and perceptions of leadership will be measured at the team level to maintain survey response confidentiality, meaning turnover will be measured as team turnover rate. Performance will be measured at the individual level in relation to individual turnover. Turnover will be captured using human resource records and linked to employees or teams using identification numbers. The data will be analyzed using logistic regression. There will be separate analyses with combinations of engagement, leadership perceptions, and performance with voluntary and involuntary turnover. It is expected that engagement and leadership perceptions will have significant negative relationships with voluntary turnover and will be more strongly related to voluntary turnover than involuntary turnover. It is also expected that performance will have a significant negative relationship with involuntary turnover and will be more strongly related to involuntary turnover than voluntary turnover. Findings will contribute to the scientific literature about predictors of turnover. Strengths of the proposed research are that it examines turnover rather than turnover intention and the data for the predictor and criteria variables will be measured approximately two years apart, allowing time for the turnover process to occur. Practitioners could use the findings to inform their efforts to predict and reduce organizational turnover, particularly among nurses

What We Know About Teamwork and Multiteam Coordination in Aviation: Overview Model

Much of the work of pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers, aircraft mechanics, and flight operations center personnel is done in teams and coordination within and between teams is required. This is the first in a five-article series discussing theory and research relating to teamwork in aviation. This article presents a comprehensive model of teamwork in aviation. It builds on leading teamwork theories and integrates other aviation-relevant constructs such as decision making, technology, and culture. All components of the model have been extensively supported in the general team literature, but the extent of aviation-specific research varies considerably across constructs. Additional articles in this series examine the various components in greater detail

Developing a High-Fidelity Simulation Lab: Challenges and Lessons Learned

With a decade of experience, the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) NASA FOCUS (Flight Operations Center- Unified Simulation) lab is a vital part of the educational experience for senior aerospace students. The NASA FOCUS Lab is a high fidelity simulation of a flight dispatch center in a collegiate setting. Students are trained in specific positions in the lab and must operate within a complex team environment to run the virtual airline within their shift. The purpose of the lab is to provide a learning platform for students to practice the requisite teamwork skills necessary to effectively work in airline operations. Designing effective simulation experiences and providing adequate performance feedback is complex. This paper discusses some of the challenges we encountered and lessons learned through a ten-year span of operation and refinement. By presenting this information, it may help future researchers in the design and development of high-fidelity simulation labs

Motivational contagion in a leader-follower dynamic

Motivational contagion is a process where one individual’s intentions are adopted by others (Dragoni & Kuenzi, 2012). Leaders enact motivational contagion when they share their goal orientations with followers. The present work proposes applying motivational contagion to a leader-follower dynamic to identify how it occurs and if substitutes/neutralizers to leadership reduce the rates of motivational contagion. Data from 300 followers will be collected using MTurk. It is hypothesized that motivational contagion occurs because leaders behaviorally establish and reinforce a desired climate that signals similar goal orientations in followers. The presence of substitutes/neutralizers to leadership are hypothesized to reduce the rates of motivational contagion. A potential theoretical implication of this research is a fuller explicative understanding of motivational contagion’s process between leaders and followers. A potential practical implication is behavioral guidance for leaders to share a desired goal orientation with followers for stronger work group effectiveness

The Impact of Turnover on Team Performance within Major League Soccer Teams

Success within teams is a result of many factors and may vary across situations and the teams themselves being examined (Morgan, Campione, and Jerrell, 2004). Take for example team success within business. Some may predict that success within teams is due to individual & collaborative efforts, individual & team efficacy, and a shared mental model. But success depends on the context in which the work takes places as well as other factors such as if the work encourages a highly collaborative environment versus work that requires low collaboration within job task completion. One factor not entirely addressed is variance within industry. That is, how is success within athletics achieved? Is it the same, or even like success within a business environment? Moreover, how is high performance within soccer teams, specifically in Major League Soccer, achieved? This study is an attempt to explain variance in team performance within soccer teams in Major League Soccer. We conducted a concomitant time series analysis to determine whether turnover directly or indirectly attributes to team performance. Anecdotally, it is a widespread common belief that poor team performance in sports is due to either poor coaching, or poor individual performance of players. Thus, teams will trade players and/or fire head coaches. This study will attempt to identify how turnover of players and managers contributes to team performance. Archival data obtained from an open-source collection center (mlssoccer.com) was used to gather data

Refinement of Mental Models of Interdependence and Communication

This study examined the relationship between mental models of interdependence and communication in a simulated aviation flight operations center. Social network analysis indicated that mental models of both interdependence and communication importance develop with team interaction and that, following team interaction, the two types of models were closely related