Military Psychology: Teams and Teamwork

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Military PsychologyTeams and Teamwork

• Dr. Steven J. Kass

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Military Psychology Importance of Teamwork

• Importance of Teamwork
• Readiness coordination/communication in
  stressful war environment
• Adaptation ability to adapt to changing demands
  of a wider range of missions
• Task Complexity teams are called upon to
  perform tasks that
• Require quick decision making in complex environs
• Have severe consequences of error
• Are performed under ambiguous situations

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Military Psychology Team Defined

• Team a distinguishable set of two or more
  people who interact dynamically,
  interdependently, and adaptively toward a common
  goal/objective/mission, who have each been
  assigned specific roles or functions to perform,
  and who have a limited life-span of membership
  (Salas et al., 1992)

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Military Psychology Team Characteristics

• 2 or more members
• Members possess multiple sources of info
• Tasks are interdependent (sequential, pooled, or
  reciprocal)
• Members must coordinate efforts
• Members share compatible values/goals/objectives
• Members have specialized roles
• Team is hierarchically structured (team leader)
• Communication crucial
• Team develops strategies to adapt to change

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Military Psychology Teamwork

• Teams must complete
• Taskwork individual competencies (KSAs)
  necessary to do the job
• Teamwork competencies associated with being an
  effective team member
• Motivating teammates
• Providing backup/support
• Monitoring one another
• Self-correcting
• Shifting strategy on demand

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Military Psychology Team Competencies

• Identify team competencies through Team Task
  Analysis
• Knowledge
• Task specific teammate characteristics
• Shared task models
• Teamwork skills
• Skills
• Adaptability
• Shared situation awareness
• Mutual performance monitoring
• Motivating team members/leadership
• Communication
• Assertiveness
• Attitudes
• Collective efficacy (Potency)
• Shared vision
• Team cohesion

Cannon-Bowers et al., 1995)
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Military Psychology Measuring Team Performance

• Focus on outcome may be rewarding flawed
  processes.
• Assess both
• Taskwork outcomes (winning, accuracy,
  efficiency, etc.)
• Teamwork process (communication, coordination,
  support, etc.)

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Military Psychology Measuring Team Performance

• Measurement process
• Describe individual and team behavior
• Evaluate behavior
• Diagnose causes of behavior

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Military Psychology Team Performance

• Assessment Tools
• Observational Checklists/Rating Scales
• Content Analysis
• Critical Incidents
• Automated Performance Recording
• After Action Reviews

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Military Psychology Team Performance Measurement

• Effective Team Performance Measurement, should
• Identify processes linked to key outcomes
• Distinguish between individual and team level
  contributions and deficiencies
• Produce assessment to be used for providing
  feedback to team
• Produce accurate and reliable evaluations
• Be easy to implement

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Military Psychology Team Training Techniques

• Cross-Training learn KSAs of other team tasks
  by rotating positions
• Learn contribution of each task to big picture
• Allows teammates to anticipate others actions
• Helps provide backup and flexibility

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Military Psychology Team Training Techniques

• Aircrew Coordination Training increase crews
  awareness of need for coordination
• Provide crews with info about teamwork skills
• Demonstrate behaviors via video recording
• Provide opportunities to practice
• Receive feedback on performance

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Military Psychology Team Training Techniques

• Guided Team Self-Correction feedback to
  teammates by leader to allow team to identify its
  own problems
• Feedback should
• Enable each member to perform his/her task
• Demonstrate how individuals performance
  contributes to that of other
• Demonstrate how individuals performance
  contributes to that of team

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Military Psychology Team Training Techniques

• Team Adaptation Coordination Training
  training method to help teams deal with stressful
  environment/task
• Provide team member with info on how to best
  optimize
• Preplanning sessions
• Idle periods
• Info dissemination
• Info anticipation
• Redistribution of workload

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Military Psychology Team Training Techniques

• Assertiveness Training training to improve team
  members willingness to state concerns
  assertively
• Important for
• Providing feedback
• Stating opinions
• Offering solutions
• Initiating action
• Offering/Requesting help or backup

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Military Psychology Team Training Techniques

• Team Leader Training training to help leaders
  in their position to monitor, control, and
  decisions on behalf of team
• Involves managing team climate norms
  expectations of team members and their
  interactions

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Other Issues Related to Social Psychology of
Military

• See video of Philip Zimbardo discussing Abu
  Ghraib http//www.youtube.com/watch?vOsFEV35tWsg