The current challenges in project execution demand highly skilled and interconnected teams. Members of these teams must possess essential technical expertise, including knowledge of technical theory, proficiency in simulation software, and 3D modeling. Additionally, they should demonstrate strong interpersonal skills, such as being communicative, resilient, collaborative, flexible, empathetic, positive attitude, and accountable. Such teams operate cohesively and work together effectively. The internal dynamics of these teams are characterized by the following traits:
· They
are very in tune with their peers, possessing a thorough understanding of the
capabilities and limitations of the entire team.
· They
are open and communicative with each other, displaying minimal dispersion in
their performance. All peers are oriented towards what is truly important.
· They
all have full confidence in each other's abilities.
· They
are capable of simultaneously executing different dependent activities with
minimal rework, this is effective concurrence.
·
They
are prone to staying connected, and each individual's opinion is considered.
·
The
team members can collectively understand the tasks they are involved in.
·
They
can collectively encode, store, and retrieve the team's information.
· They
can promptly share and understand incoming and outgoing information and
knowledge as a team.
· They
can distribute and take on entry tasks within the team without needing a
leader to assign them.
A team that works according to the traits described before could be
called an Intertwined Work Team. This group works fully aligned and synchronized as
a single entity to achieve its objectives. They are fully transparent,
accountable, and committed to the team's purpose.
An Intertwined Work Team is a tightly cohesive group that demonstrates high
levels of group cognition, allowing its members to work closely and seamlessly
with one another. This enables the group to operate at optimal levels of
effectiveness and efficiency.
To activate an Intertwined Work Team, each of the potential members must first be
identified. Then, the members should be brought together as a group, and trained to
promote and instill in them the values of group collaboration. Finally, they
should be trained to work interconnectedly, which will allow the full
integration required.
Following are some key cognitive approaches that need to be promoted
and instilled in the team to enhance group cognition:
ü The Team Mental Model
The Team Mental Model approach is based on
the concept that a team with shared beliefs and ideas will have a common
understanding of tasks and expectations. This facilitates team information
processing, task coordination, and effective communication, even in stressful
situations, leading to better performance, cooperation, and higher-quality
outcomes.
ü The Team Transactive Memory
The Team Transactive Memory is a mechanism
by which a work team collectively encodes, stores, and retrieves knowledge.
While the Team Mental Model or TMM refers to shared knowledge and
understanding, the Team Transactive Memory or TTM refers to the distribution of
knowledge within the team.
ü Identifying the Essential
A team that operates similarly,
prioritizing what is truly important and eliminating the unnecessary, reduces
time wastage on non-essential shared activities. This minimizes
intellectual inefficiencies within the team, leading to improved concurrent
performance.
ü Fostering the Interactive Creativity
A team that fosters interactive creativity
among its members achieves effective team cohesion, leading to better
problem-solving for specific client needs. Collaborative solutions progress
synchronously, with each team member making meaningful contributions. This
interactive approach maximizes concurrent work within the team.
Once a team has been formed based on a shared Team Mental Model and the
ability to apply Team Transactive Memory, identify the essentials in any input
received, and also foster interactive creativity among them, the team begins
training to establish a fully interconnected way of working. This training is
based on the belief that a highly cohesive way of working can be instilled and
trained by focusing on the Team Mental Model and Team Transactive Memory.
Team training utilizes simulation-based learning to replicate and
enhance real-life experiences through guided ones, applying the TMM and TTM
concepts. As a result, the development of shared understanding, the
identification and reinforcement of communication patterns, and the
identification of the team's knowledge network when necessary are promoted.
For details on the type of training described above, refer to "Developing Team
Cognition: A Role for Simulation" by Fernandez, Shah, Rosenman, Kozlowski,
Parker, and Grand, published in Simulation in Healthcare: Journal of the
Society for Simulation in Healthcare, April 2017.
