The Science of Teamwork: What Matters in Practice…

1. The Science of Teamwork: What Matters in Practice… Eduardo Salas, Ph.D. Department of Psychology & Institute of Simulation & Training University of Central Florida esalas@ist.ucf.edu

2. Outline Today… • Who cares about teamwork? • What matters in teamwork? • The 7 C’s • What do effective teams do? • Top ten list • Leaders behaviors • What can you do to enhance teamwork? • 7 pieces of advice • Closing remarks.

3. Who cares about teamwork?

4. Who Cares about Teams?

5. Who Cares about Teams?

6. Who Cares about Teams?

7. USS Vincennes shoots down Iranian airbus (1988) Challenger/Columbia accidents tied to poor organizational decision making (1986/2003) Response to 9/11 reveals communication breakdowns (2001) Katrina response lacked coordination (2005); so did Gulf Oil spill (2010) Sago Mine disaster report cites poor command-and-control (2006) VA Tech communications substandard (2007) Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster (2012) Friendly fire incidents Various health care mishaps attributed to poor teamwork Some Instances of Failures of Teamwork

8. Miracle on the Hudson And some successes… Response to Fargo flooding

9. US 2004 Olympic Basketball Team "We still have a couple of days, but I don't know where we are," replied USA head coach Larry Brown … I've got a pretty good understanding of who needs to play.Now the job is to get an understanding of how we have to play." A team of experts does NOT make an expert team Collaborative skill is not additive

10. US 1980 Olympic Ice Hockey Team Herb Brooks and 20 young “no-names” won the 1980 Olympic Gold Medal in Ice Hockey An expert team made up of no-names…

11. What Matters in Teamwork?

12. What is the State of the Science? How Do We Turn a Team of Experts into an Expert Team?

13. What is the State of the Science? • Theoretically-driven (170+ models!) • “Nothing more practical than a good theory.” • It’s a multi-disciplinary field • Explosion of empirical work! • Studying real teams; performing real tasks • “Teams in the Wild” • Simulations • Experts as participants

14. What is the State of the Science? • Hundreds of teams! • Aviation • Healthcare • Military • Corporate world • Teams defined • Task interdependency • Distributed expertise • Hierarchical organized

15. TEAMWORK Cognition Coaching Conflict Coordination Conditions Communication Cooperation Conflict Resolution Procedures Norms & Support Motivational Drivers Information Protocols Common Understanding Leadership Activities Behavioral Mechanism

16. Cooperation… • Attitudes & Beliefs: • Team Orientation • Collective Efficacy • Mutual Trust • Openness to Experience • Good Teams… • Develop collective efficacy • Have strong team orientation

17. Coordination… • Behavioral Mechanisms: • Mutual Performance Monitoring • Back-up Behavior/Supportive • Adaptability/ Flexibility • Good Teams… • Self-correct • Employ huddle, debriefs

18. Communication… • Information exchange protocols: • Close-loop communication • Precise, Timely, Clarity • Appropriate terminology • Good Teams… • Share unique information

19. Cognition… • Shared understanding: • Roles & Responsibilities • Knowledge of team mission; Objectives, Norms, & Resources • Familiarity with Teammates • Good Teams… • Have clear roles • Team norms are clear

20. Coaching… • Leadership: • Team Leadership • Promotes teamwork • Cares about team members • Sets ground rules • Good Teams… • Have coaches • Set expectations • Clarify roles

21. Conflict… • Conflict resolution strategies: • Interpersonal skills • Psychological safety • Good Teams… • Deal with conflict, confront it • Coaches create psychological safety

22. Conditions… • Supportive context • Good performance recognized & reinforced • Access to resources • Information needed available • Policies, procedures & incentives aligns • Leadership sends “signals” that teamwork matters

23. Ten Characteristics of Effective Teams…

24. Ten characteristics of effective teams… • Clear roles & responsibilities • …have members who understand each others’ roles and how they fit together. • Compelling purpose – goal, vision • …have a clear common purpose. • …energized by their shared mission. • …can evaluate current status in terms of a destination.

25. Ten characteristics of effective teams… • Team coach (leader) – promotes, develops, reinforces • …leaders that directly intervene to enact teamwork processes. • …have team members who believe the leaders care about them. • …provide situation updates. • …set expectations. • …self-correct first. • …clarify roles. • …solicit ideas and observations from team members. • …seek out opportunities to reinforce effective teamwork.

26. Ten characteristics of effective teams… • Mutual trust – familiarity • …manage conflict well—team members confront each other effectively. • …have a strong sense of team orientation. • …trust other team members’ “intentions”. • …strongly believe in the team’s collective capability to succeed. • …develop collective efficacy.

27. Ten characteristics of effective teams… • Team norms – clear, known & appropriate • …what is acceptable “around here”. • ​Sharedunderstanding of task, mission & goals – hold shared mental models • …have members who anticipate each other. • …can coordinate without overt communication.

28. Ten characteristics of effective teams… • ​Self-correct – huddles, debriefs • …regularly provide feedback to each other, both individually and as a team (“de-brief”). • …establish and revise team goals and plans. • …differentiate between higher and lower priorities. • …have mechanisms for anticipating and reviewing issues/problems of members. • …periodically diagnose team "effectiveness”, including its results, its processes, and its vitality (morale, retention, energy).

29. Ten characteristics of effective teams… • Set expectations – clear, understood • …Know who does what, when & why • Shared unique information – efficient information protocols • …huddles, debriefs can help. • ​Organizational conditions – policies, procedures, signals

30. Seven Pieces of Advice…

31. Some Advice… • Ensure all team members are trained on team-based KSA’s…aroundsix of the C’s… • Team training ≠ Team building • Information, demonstration, practice & feedback, key elements • Scenario carefully crafted • Event-based approach

32. Some Advice… • ​Teach how to Debrief and Huddle!- Simple, Powerful, & Underutilized • What worked? • What can be improved? • Focus on as many C’s as possible. • Debriefing works! (Tannenbaum, 2012) • 25% Performance improvement

33. Some Advice… 3. Use Simulation! • Games, role plays • Accelerates expertise • Embedded instructional features

34. Some Advice… • Develop team coaches… • ​Measure & Reinforce teamwork! • Ensure team is deployed appropriately… • …Kick-off meeting • ​​For sustainability…create conditions needed… • …continuous process • …seek supervisory support • …not an event, journey • …CFO/CEO must see value, business case

35. Closing Remarks…

36. Closing Remarks… • Use teamscience! • Apply what we know! • Data on what works, compelling!

38. How can we help?