In this document, I extensively summarised all articles required for the 2021/2022 academic year. Note that we only have to learn the theoretical frameworks for this course, but I also included the theoretical backgrounds of the articles so that the theory may be easier to understand. You can alway...
Article 1: A temporally based framework and taxonomy of team processes (Marks, Mathieu, &
Zaccaro, 2001)
- Within teamwork, success is not only defined by available resources and individual members’
talents, but also by the processes used by members to interact with each other to accomplish
goals.
In research, such team processes are often viewed as mediating mechanisms linking input variables
such as members, team, and organisational characteristics with outcome variables such as
performance quality and quantity (Input-process-outcome (IPO) framework)
- The purpose of this article is to take a detailed look at the concept of team processes.
1) Offering a definition of team process and discussing the types of variables that fall under
the process umbrella.
2) Advancing a conceptual model of team process that has applicability to many team types
3) Introducing a new taxonomy of team process dimensions with 10 critical processes
clustered into 3 higher-level categories.
4) Providing recommendations for using the taxonomy to further team process assessment.
The construct of team processes
- Team process = members’ interdependent acts that convert inputs to outcomes through
cognitive, verbal, and behavioural activities directed toward organising taskwork to achieve
collective goals.
The means by which members work interdependently to utilise various resources such as
expertise, equipment, and money, to yield meaningful outcomes such as product
development, satisfaction, team commitment, etc.)
- Taskwork = a team’s interactions with tasks, tools, machines, and systems.
- Difference: taskwork describes WHAT teams are doing while teamwork describes HOW they
are doing it together.
Process versus emergent states
- Widespread concern exists regarding the selection and operationalisation of process
variables for use in research.
- One particular problem is the diversity of variables that have been selected as “processes” in
tests of I-P-O relationships.
- E.g., variables like ‘collective efficacy’, ‘potency’, and ‘situational awareness’ have been used
frequently to represent “process”.
These type of variables are called emergent states
Emergent states = constructs that characterise properties of the team that are typically dynamic in
nature and vary as a function of team context, inputs, processes, and outcomes.
- Describe cognitive, motivational, and affective states of teams, as opposed to the nature of
their member interaction (interaction processes).
- We talk of “states” and not of “traits” because traits are enduring characteristics while states
are more fluid and more easily influenced by context.
States such as cohesion are malleable in newly formed teams (context) but tend to
remain stable in those with a long history.
- They can be considered both team inputs and proximal outcomes: E.g., teams with low
cohesion (an emergent state) may be less willing to manage existing conflict (the process),
which, in turn, may create additional conflict that lowers cohesion levels even further.
,Thus, emergent states and processes differ from each other (although this is often confused)!
- Interactional process indicators = constructs such as coordination.
- Emergent states don’t represent team interaction or team actions that lead toward
outcomes, but they are products of team experiences (including team processes) and
become new inputs to subsequent processes and outcomes.
- Emergent states are thus not processes in and of themselves, because they do not describe
the nature of member interaction.
Emergent traits and other team traits and characteristics serve as inputs and influence the execution
of teamwork processes and taskwork, which are likely to alter subsequent emergent states, as well
as teamwork and further down the line. Also, teamwork processes and taskwork often co-occur (e.g.,
fielding and throwing the baseball are critical taskwork components, but the coordination at second
base is also critical).
So, “teamwork processes” describes interdependent team activities that orchestrate taskwork in
employees’ pursuit of goals.
- They are the vehicles that transform team inputs to both nearby and longer-term outcomes.
- To avoid confusion, a distinction amount teamwork processes, taskwork, emergent states,
and more permanent team traits and characteristics must be made.
A RECURRING PHASE MODEL OF TEAM PROCESSES
Purpose of recurring phase model: outline how temporal factors impact team functioning.
- Different team processes are critical at different phases of task execution.
- I-P-O relationships occur over a series of related cycles.
- The following points describe how the framework is advanced by the authors:
1) How do temporal influences affect teams?
- All work-related are somehow affected by deadlines, time limits, or schedules.
Such time factors dictate many aspects of team functioning, such as the strategies that
are employed or the pace of activities.
Time-based rhythms shape how teams manage their behaviour.
- In previous research: a static perspective on examining team effectiveness as researchers
examined I-P-O relationships within a single task accomplishment period.
Therefore, temporal factors are eliminated from further examination.
- The new framework explains how time relates to team goal attainment.
- The authors argue that “team compilation” is “a sequence of modal phases and transition
points” and that different team activities occur in different phases of team development.
- Teams are typically engaged in multiple goals simultaneously.
This creates an environment where members are engaged in complex sequences of
interdependent tasks that comprise a larger project.
- Time is linked to goal accomplishment in an episodic framework.
2) Episodes as sequenced temporal units in which teams perform on their path to goal
accomplishment.
- Teams perform in temporal (sequential or simultaneous) cycles of goal-directed activity
called “episodes”.
- Episodes = distinguishable periods of time over which performance accrues and feedback is
available.
Most easily identified by goals and goal accomplishment periods.
Conclusion of one period usually marks the initiation of another.
, Episodes may vary substantially in length and consistency.
Each episode has a valence, or relative importance, attached to it that may heighten or
weaken its salience to the team, given the countless demands the team faces.
- Nowadays, teams often work in multiple performance episodes at a given point in time, each
with its own subgoals and episodes and with its associated rhythms and sequence.
- Since timing and duration of episodes often differs, there is greater demand for coordination.
Processes are the means by which teams manage all of these concerns during multi-episodic goal
accomplishment.
- Types of processes that occur differ because of the particular activities that are being
conducted at any given time during a performance episode.
3) Presenting a recurring phase model: explains what types of processes are more likely to
occur at different periods within performance episodes.
- Over time, team performance is best viewed as a series of related I-P-O episodes.
Outcomes from initial episodes often become inputs for the next cycle, while processes
are likely to vary in importance between episodes.
- This view suggests that teams are actively engaged in different types of taskwork at different
phases of task accomplishment.
Action phases = periods of time when teams are engaged in acts that contribute directly
to goal accomplishment (i.e., taskwork such as a surgical team performing an operation).
Transition phases = periods of time when teams focus primarily on evaluation and/or
planning activities to guide their accomplishment of a team goal or objective.
Times when teams take inventory of how well they performed druing the previous
episode and prepare for the upcoming one.
The difference between current performance levels and the goals that have been set is called a
performance gap.
- Closing these gaps guides development of future performance goals and strategies to
achieve those goals.
Figure 1 depicts four different types of performance episodes that a team might execute while
multitasking, where the episodes vary in cycle times and their onset.
- Task 1: a fairly fast cycle rhythm with cyclical transition and action phases.
- Task 2: a much greater period of sustained activity before goal accomplishment is evaluated.
, - Task 3: falls in between task 1 and 2.
- Task 4: a cycle similar to the first but in which the onset is delayed relative to the others.
- As task 1 indicates, longer-term episodes are often segmented into sections of more limited
scope and duration that contribute to the larger effort. I.e., many small sections lead to
greater results.
- As we see, outputs (O) generated from processes that occur during a transition phase can
become inputs (I) for the following action phase.
- Figure 1 also shows that processes are influenced by inputs (including emergent states) and
that they themselves influence following outcomes (also including emergent states).
Teamwork processes that revolve around planning and evaluation occur more frequently in
transition phases, while coordination and monitoring processes are more present in action phases of
goal accomplishment.
Identifying salient performance episode is critical to understanding not only what but also when
team processes become critical to goal accomplishment. The transition and action phases delineate
when certain team processes are likely to be most salient.
TAXONOMY OF TEAM PROCESSES
Authors’ intention is to create a taxonomy that is broad enough to apply to different types of teams,
yet specific enough to be easily understood for applied an research purposes.
- This is done by (1) reviewing extant literature on team processes, (2) developing a framework
of team processes to provide conceptual clarity, (3) using previous classification efforts, and
(4) integrating our applied experiences with teams to generate process dimensions that are
both distinct conceptually and consistent with the theory of team processes.
The taxonomy contains a hierarchical structure, where the ten process dimensions are nested within
three superordinate categories: (1) transition phase processes, (2)
action phase processes, (3) interpersonal processes.
- Interpersonal processes are expected to occur throughout
transition and action phases.
- Figure 2, which is shown on the next page, illustrates the
process dimensions as they occur within transition and action
phases.
Transition phase processes = periods when teams focus primarily on
evaluation and/or planning activities to guide their accomplishment of
a team goal (goal specification, strategy formulation, after-action
reviews, etc.).
1) Mission analysis = the interpretation and evaluation of the
team’s mission, including identification of its main tasks as
well as the operative environmental conditions and team
resources available for mission execution.
- Includes verbal discussion to ensure members have a shared vision of objectives.
- Backward visioning = diagnosing previous performance and interpreting causes of success
and failure (to improve future efforts)
- Forward visioning = how does the team interpret its charge for the future in the context of
ongoing events?
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