Structuring and Training High-Reliability Teams. Draft.
Abstract
The performance of teams working together to control complex systems has become increasingly important for a variety of military and civilian applications, and there is growing interest in identifying and understanding the factors that affect the reliability of such teams. A better understanding is needed of the coordination strategies used by superior teams to maintain acceptable performance in demanding environments in order to develop methods for structuring and training reliable teams. Data collected from experiments in a helicopter flight simulator were used to test a theory of team coordination for two-person helicopter flight crews. The theory suggests that well-coordinated crews have congruent mental models of their mission, the situation, and each other. These congruent mental models support the crew's ability to communicate and coordinate effectively, leading to superior teamwork. This superior teamwork allows the crew to control their workload and keep it within manageable levels, leading to superior crew performance, especially in situations where external task demands are high. Experiment data are available on the congruence of the crew's mental models (from crew questionnaires), the quality of the crew's teamwork (rated by instructor pilots observing the crews), the subjective workload experienced by the crew (from crew rating forms), and the crew's performance (as evaluated by the instructor pilots). We tested the theory by examining the relationships among these variables. All of the relationships predicted by the theory were found to be present in the data. Crews with more-congruent mental models exhibited superior teamwork, which was associated with lower perceived workloads. Superior teamwork and lower workloads were associated with higher levels of mission performance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA302903
Entities
People
- Daniel Serfaty
- Eileen B. Entin
- Elliot E. Entin
- Jean Macmillan