Optimizing Collaboration in Battalion Staff Elements.
Abstract
Increasingly, no single individual can acquire the varied and often rapidly expanding information needed to create and execute battle plans effectively. Collaboration between and among geographically dispersed and specialized individuals and teams throughout the command and control (C2) process will, in large part, determine battle performance. This study explores collaboration in C2 from a human information behavior perspective. Qualitative research methods, including document analysis of current and proposed military doctrine, interviews with experienced military officers, and observation of a C2 training exercise were used to discover characteristics of effective collaboration. Three dominant themes emerged from the data. The first finding focuses on the importance of an "interwoven situational awareness" where team members mutually develop an overlapping but not identical shared understanding of the battlefield. The second finding concerns a requirement for dense social networks or frequent communication between team members about the battle, the C2 process, and information that is specific to a battlefield function. The third finding highlights the need to expand the role of the signal officer to include an ability to customize human-computer interfaces for the staff, to develop and program information retrieval queries that reflect priority intelligence requirements, and to program automatic data transfers between and among higher, lower, and adjacent echelons. These results provide insights to the complex nature of collaboration and recommendations for further research with respect to training and technologies supporting C2.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA357664
Entities
People
- Diane H. Sonnenwald
- Linda G. Pierce
Organizations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill