Team Modelling: Literature Review
Abstract
Increasingly, Canadian Forces operations require the use of highly complex teams that function in joint, interagency, and often distributed environments. This report is a literature review of scientific and military research pertaining to team performance. This review consists of three sections. First, the factors influencing team performance are explored, and three major sets of factors are considered in relation to team performance: team factors, task factors, and team processes. Although very large, the team performance research has generally not built progressively upon previous work and illustrates equivocal results. Nonetheless, it is clear that characteristics of the team, the task, and team processes are all important influences on team performance. However, exactly how each of these factors influences team performance is often dependent on other factors. Moreover, the majority of the existing team research is limited in that it has not generally been conducted in realistic settings. The second section addresses measures of team performance, considers the conceptual challenges of measuring team performance, and explores specific measures of team processes and outcomes. The final section reviews some conceptual and computational models of team performance. Although models have generally not been subject to extensive validation efforts, they provide confirmation of the factors that are prominent throughout the team literature. The review ends with a short overview of the literature, and recommendations for a program of team research. Specifically, the existing team literature is inadequate with respect to understanding distributed teams consisting of people from diverse backgrounds and experience. Moreover, as teams of the future are also likely to be increasingly complex, more understanding of how heterogeneous teams as well as an entire team of teams will function in distributed, joint, and interagency environments will be critical.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA473022
Entities
People
- Barbara D. Adams
- Jessica A. Sartori
- Sonya Waldherr
Organizations
- HumanSystems Incorporated