A Systematic Framework for Measuring Team Performance and Group Decision-Making: Pitfalls, Solutions, and Transdisciplinary Insights

Objectives To characterize student perceptions of team dynamics and the relationship between team dynamics and performance within a novel hybrid exam platform. Methods Medical students enrolled in pre‐clerkship year 1 at CNUCOM during academic year 2017–2018 were recruited for participation in this study. Data was collected at two timepoints— at the mid‐course exam in the final course of year 1 and at the mid‐course exam in the initial course of year 2. All participants completed a 100‐item selected‐response exam individually and then as part of a pre‐formed student team of 8–9 members. Following the team exam, students completed a 15‐item survey reflecting on their team interactions. In addition, faculty proctors of the team exam during course 1 completed a 15‐item survey reflecting on their observations of team dynamics. Finally, student performance (both individual and team exam scores) were collected for all participants. Team dynamics scores were calculated based on responses to survey questions regarding team interactions during the exam as identified by students and proctors (for course 1). This human subjects protocol was reviewed and approved by the CNUCOM Institutional Review Board. Results 95 and 94 students completed the first and second hybrid exam surveys, respectively. Average individual scores (+/− SD) on the first and second exams were 69 (+/11) and 80 (+/− 10), and average team scores on the first and second exams were 92 (+/−3) and 99 (+/−1). At the first exam, student‐derived team dynamics score was highly correlated with team exam score, while team member average individual exam score did not strongly correlate with team exam score. {It is noted that teams for the first exam were formed 8 months prior to the exam and had been used extensively in other team‐based learning sessions.} Conversely, teams utilized in the second exam had been formed less than 1 month prior to the exam and had been functioning as a team for a limited number of sessions prior to the exam—on the second exam, team dynamics score was not well‐correlated with team exam score, and instead team member average individual exam score correlated more strongly with team score. Proctor’s assessment of team dynamics correlated moderately well with students’ assessment of team dynamics in course 1 (r = 0.24). Conclusions Our data suggest that team dynamics play a role in team performance in hybrid testing utilized for high‐stakes exams among undergraduate medical students. This relationship may depend more on student comfort and familiarity within a team than on the individual knowledge and specific contributions of team members. More investigation on long‐term knowledge retention as related to dynamics within teams is desirable to further characterize outcomes utilizing this novel testing format.

Effective teamwork is not only essential for teams themselves, but also for organizations and our society. To facilitate team processes and enhance team performance, feedback interventions are a widely used means. However, different types of feedback (i.e., individual vs. team-level feedback, performance vs. process feedback) can have various effects leaving the question of their effectiveness unanswered. This is especially important when team members’ attitudes (namely collective orientation) are considered. Thus, understanding the interplay between types of feedback and team members’ attitudes would reveal new opportunities for fostering reliable teamwork. The methodology of the present study is based on a laboratory approach. Teams (N = 142) of two worked together over four scenarios to extinguish forest fires in a microworld. We examined the effects of collective orientation on team coordination and team performance. To understand the interplay between feedback and attitudes we examined the effect of different feedback interventions on team performance and on a change in collective orientation. For analyzing multilevel mediation and changes over time, Bayesian multilevel models were applied. Results show a positive relationship between collective orientation and team performance mediated by coordination. Additionally, team-level process and performance feedback seem to be slightly more beneficial for maintaining performance over time with increasing difficulty of the task compared to individual-level process feedback. Feedback can lead to an increase in collective orientation if these values are low at the beginning. Our research highlights the importance of collective orientation and feedback interventions on team processes and performance for interdependently working teams.

IntroductionEffective teamwork plays a critical role in achieving high-performance outcomes in healthcare. Consequently, conducting a comprehensive assessment of team performance is essential for providing meaningful feedback during team trainings and enabling comparisons in scientific studies. However, traditional methods like self-reports or behavior observations have limitations such as susceptibility to bias or being resource consuming. To overcome these limitations and gain a more comprehensive understanding of team processes and performance, the assessment of objective measures, such as physiological parameters, can be valuable. These objective measures can complement traditional methods and provide a more holistic view of team performance. The aim of this study was to explore the potential of the use of objective measures for evaluating team performance for research and training purposes. For this, experts in the field of research and medical simulation training were interviewed to gather their opinions, ideas, and concerns regarding this novel approach.MethodsA total of 34 medical and research experts participated in this exploratory qualitative study, engaging in semi-structured interviews. During the interview, experts were asked for (a) their opinion on measuring team performance with objective measures, (b) their ideas concerning potential objective measures suitable for measuring team performance of healthcare teams, and (c) their concerns regarding the use of objective measures for evaluating team performance. During data analysis responses were categorized per question.ResultsThe findings from the 34 interviews revealed a predominantly positive reception of the idea of utilizing objective measures for evaluating team performance. However, the experts reported limited experience in actively incorporating objective measures into their training and research. Nevertheless, they identified various potential objective measures, including acoustical, visual, physiological, and endocrinological measures and a time layer. Concerns were raised regarding feasibility, complexity, cost, and privacy issues associated with the use of objective measures.DiscussionThe study highlights the opportunities and challenges associated with employing objective measures to assess healthcare team performance. It particularly emphasizes the concerns expressed by medical simulation experts and team researchers, providing valuable insights for developers, trainers, researchers, and healthcare professionals involved in the design, planning or utilization of objective measures in team training or research.

The study aims to examine the association between team emotional intelligence (EI) and team performance, particularly in construction projects, with a deliberate focus on identifying the factors that may foster or hinder team performance. To examine the hypothesized nexus of the model, dyadic data of 302 project employees and their site supervisors was collected, representing 53 teams in total. Organizations working on construction projects and relevant participants were selected through purposive sampling method. Findings of the study pronounce a positive association between team EI and team performance of engineers. Further, this study supports the mediating role of team trust between focal variables. Notably, task interdependence buffers the association between team EI and team performance. Coupled with the theoretical contribution, the study also offers valuable insights for managerial consideration, which may help them to maintain the workflow in construction projects and enhance team performance. Although EI constitutes essential resources for higher performance, prior research has not investigated whether and when team EI facilitates team performance, particularly in construction projects. We contributed to filling this gap by establishing the direct and indirect association between team EI and team performance via team trust. Moreover, the study also established task interdependence as a relevant moderator. In sum, the study at hand brings to the fore the dispositional and contextual antecedents that could potentially impact team performance, particularly in the construction project context.

Assessing team performance is a difficult task for instructors because of factors such as high workload. Automated performance measurement systems may provide assistance to instructors and improve the quality of performance assessment. However, little research is available to guide such interventions or to document their effects. This research compared the ability of flight instructors to give diagnostic ratings of team performance with or without computer assistance using the Enhancing Performance With Improved Coordination (EPIC) tool. It was found that the instructor group operating with EPIC (n = 10) had more differentiated and accurate ratings of team performance compared to the control group (n = 10). These results suggest that approaches such as EPIC can serve to complement and augment instructor capabilities, providing more powerful and diagnostic team performance assessment systems.

As exploration of new frontiers continues, the need for team training in extreme environments grows. Operating in isolated, confined, and extreme environments (ICE) demands novel approaches to team performance measurement, as well as new strategies and methods for ensuring teams members are (1) equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes critical for effective team performance over time, and (2) are supported by just-in-time training or other resources when breakdowns in performance inevitably occur. This panel brings together a range of experts in human performance in extreme environments to provide a comprehensive overview and discussion of the most current approaches and trends regarding team training and performance measurement in ICE environments.

(1) Background: Traditional one-to-one online consultations with doctors often fail to provide timely and accurate treatment plans; consequently, creating cross-hospital and cross-regional teams has become a new pattern for doctors aiming to offer Internet medical services. Because the online doctor team is a new virtual organizational model, it remains to be explained and investigated. (2) Methods: Combining the information processing view and the social categorization view, this study takes the perspective of team diversity and empirically investigates the effect of team diversity on team performance. We consider four kinds of team diversity, including status capital diversity, decision capital diversity, online reputation diversity, and professional knowledge diversity, and we investigate how team composition from the diversity perspective affects online doctor team performance and how leader reputation moderates the effect of team diversity on team performance. We use secondary data from a leading online medical consultation platform in China (Good Doctor), and our research data include 1568 teams with a total of 5481 doctors. (3) Results: The results show that status capital diversity and decision capital diversity negatively affect team performance; diversity in terms of online reputation and professional knowledge positively affect team performance; and leader reputation moderates the impact of status capital diversity and online reputation on team performance. (4) Conclusions: Our study offers management suggestions on how to form a high-performance doctor team and provides advice for the future development of online doctor teams.

The Arabic adaptation of the CEQS addresses the pressing need in sports psychology, allowing assessment of collective efficacy in Arabic-speaking teams and facilitating cross-cultural comparisons of team dynamics. This study undertook a rigorous translation and back-translation process for the CEQS, engaging athletes from a variety of sports in both exploratory (n = 477) and confirmatory (n = 510) phases. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA) were used to evaluate the factor structure, while reliability was assessed through Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega. Concurrent validity was established by correlating A-CEQS scores with measures of team performance and communication, and sensitivity was examined through the scale’s ability to distinguish between novice and experienced players. The A-CEQS demonstrated exceptional reliability across its subscales (Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega >0.9), with EFA identifying a factor structure consistent with the original scale. CFA supported the model’s fit (χ2(190) = 10998.745, p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.040 [0.033–0.047]; CFI = 0.987; TLI = 0.986; GFI = 0.942; AGFI = 0.928). Concurrent validity was confirmed through significant correlations with Coach–Athletes relationships. The A-CEQS is a reliable measure of collective efficacy in Arabic-speaking sports teams. It enables cross-cultural research and practical applications for enhancing team performance and dynamics.

In contemporary higher education settings, fostering collaboration among students is paramount. However, integrating teamwork into learning processes can pose challenges, such as the ‘free-rider syndrome’, in the development of student team projects. Additionally, divergent opinions on task goals and methods, escalating interpersonal tensions, and power struggles can hinder effective teamwork. Unlike much of the existing conflict research that predominantly focuses on conflict resolution, this study underscores the necessity of comprehending conflict's impact and mechanisms, premised on its inherent inevitability. Specifically, our aim is to investigate the relationships between contribution conflict (a process conflict type) and team performance with psychological safety and exploring different perspectives (a team learning behavior) as explanatory mechanisms. A time-lagged design was employed, collecting data from a sample of 1002 Romanian students, organized into 199 teams. Results reveal a significant and negative indirect effect of the contribution conflict on team performance. Psychological safety significantly mediates the effects of contribution conflict on team performance, facilitating the engagement in exploring different perspectives. Interestingly, the exploration of diverse perspectives did not significantly enhance team performance, underscoring the complexity of the link between team learning behaviors and performance outcomes. This research offers empirical evidence supporting theories that posit a secure and respectful team environment is crucial for cultivating productive team interactions and outcomes, even in the face of inevitable conflict. Recognizing the importance of constructively approaching differences is essential in fostering positive team dynamics among students.

This study examines the role of perceived shared understanding with regard to team performance, taking into account the motivational mechanisms (i.e., group potency and team effort) involved in this relationship and the moderating role of task routineness. Using a multisource approach and a team-level design, we collected data from 101 teams (i.e., 381 members and their 101 immediate superiors) working in a Canadian public safety organization. The results support the mediating role of group potency and team effort in the relationship between perceived shared understanding and team performance. Moreover, the results show that the relationship between team effort and team performance is moderated by task routineness, such that this relationship is stronger when task routineness is high. On the whole, the findings of this study help to better understand why and under what circumstances perceived shared understanding may enhance team performance.

A high-performance construction workplace invests in its human resources and facilitates their technical and innovation skills through team development. Though team development has been explored in many studies, to date, little research has disentangled how team development and compensation methods enhance team performance in construction companies. Accordingly, team development as a hierarchical, reflective construct, incorporating six associated components was extended and the variables of the model in a nomological network analysed using partial least squares (PLS). As a result, with the help of PLS path modelling, a hierarchical team development construct with the mediating effects of compensation on the relationship between team development and team performance was developed. The research analysis was completed on a sample population of 128 construction design teams and the results lead to the development of a model that shows team development has a significant direct and indirect impact on team performance. The results also confirm the mediating role of group compensation on the relationship between team development and team performance. In general, it is suggested that the design teams achieved better performance when the leaders adapted team compensation methods consistent with the team development practices.

Many researchers have suggested team processes that enhance team performance. However, past team process models were based on crew team, whose all team members perform an indivisible temporary task. These models may be inapplicable business teams, whose individual members perform middle- and long-term tasks assigned to individual members. This study modified the teamwork model of Dickinson and McIntyre (1997) and aimed to demonstrate a whole team process that enhances the performance of business teams. We surveyed five companies (member N = 1,400, team N = 161) and investigated team-level-processes. Results showed that there were two sides of team processes: "communication" and "collaboration to achieve a goal." Team processes in which communication enhanced collaboration improved team performance with regard to all aspects of the quantitative objective index (e.g., current income and number of sales), supervisor rating, and self-rating measurements. On the basis of these results, we discuss the entire process by which teamwork enhances team performance in business organizations.

Employee job satisfaction and team performance represent pivotal elements within the organizational landscape. This article offers a comprehensive exploration of their interwoven dynamics, illuminating the profound impact that individual job satisfaction exerts on collective team outcomes. Drawing from a multitude of scholarly research and empirical studies, it unravels the mechanisms by which employee job satisfaction significantly influences team collaboration, cooperation, and overall effectiveness. Moreover, the abstract underscores the imperative of considering both individual and collective well-being in enhancing team performance, elucidating practical strategies for organizations to cultivate a more gratifying and productive work environment.

How the physical metrics, especially physical intensity, and possession interact with each other, and subsequently combine to influence performance remains opaque. Therefore, we investigated the interrelationship of possession, physical metrics, and team performance in elite soccer. Four seasons of a top European league were used to derive 80 team league performances (points), together with possession and physical data. Physical metrics were absolute distances (m) during the whole match and ball-in-play, and rates of distance covered (m⋅min-1 ) as the index of physical intensity, notably when in-possession/out-of-possession, in total and within five speed categories. Interrelationships of possession, physical metrics, possession, and performance were assessed with Pearson's correlations and mediation analysis. Overall possession (r = 0.794) and time out-of-possession within the defensive third (r = -0.797) were most strongly correlated with performance. The strong relationships between in-possession distances and performance appeared coincidental due to greater time in-possession. Physical intensity had a complex relationship with possession and performance, with opposite relationships according to possession status: lower physical intensity when in-possession and higher physical intensity when out-of-possession were associated with possession and performance. Mediation analysis revealed the direct, independent importance of possession for team performance; however, the association of physical intensity with performance was largely (>79%) mediated by possession. Based on these findings, we propose a novel model of the interrelationships between possession, physical intensity, and performance, whereby higher possession is the largest, direct contributor toward enhanced team performance, with lower physical intensity in-possession a consequence of higher possession, but greater physical intensity when out-of-possession a cause of increased possession.

An emerging paradigm shift has been pervading the work climate of many contemporary organizations—the gradual reconfiguration of hierarchical work teams to self-managed work teams or SMWTs (Cohen, Ledford, & Spreitzer, 1996; Manz, 1992). Being a “loosely coupled” system, SMWTs are characterized by autonomous decision-making (Hollenbeck & Spitzmuller, 2012). This autonomy facilitates the decision-making process within the team and leads to gains in performance. Despite the growing popularity of SMWTs throughout the years, there is a paucity of research that examined the relative effectiveness of this new form of team structure than its traditional counterpart in producing high-performing work teams. A cross-sectional study investigated the team-based performance of newly implemented SMWTs versus the existing hierarchical work teams that performed the same type of work in an electronics manufacturing company in Cebu, Philippines. The findings revealed that team performance is significantly greater among process engineers in SMWTs than among process engineers in hierarchical work teams. Nonetheless, causal inferences cannot be drawn due to the cross-sectional nature of the study design. Together, insights are offered to elucidate the benefits entailed of this organizational transition from hierarchical work teams to SMWTs in enhancing team performance.