Diving Deep Into Team Adaptation: How Does It Really Unfold Over Time?

摘要

Objective: We investigated whether teams adapt to an unexpected event by executing the 4-phase team adaptation process (i.e., situation assessment, plan formulation, plan execution, and team learning) and whether the execution of this 4-phase sequence leads to high team performance, as proposed by Rosen et al. (2011). Method: In a laboratory study, we observed 70 teams of 4 individuals performing a task after an unexpected event. We coded the sequence of team adaptation phases based on team members' communications and behaviors. For hypothesis testing, we performed a lag sequential analysis to determine whether sequences of team adaptation phases occurred (1) more often than other sequences and (2) more often in high-versus low-performing teams. Results: Theoretically predicted phase sequences did not occur more often than other phase sequences, except for the 2-phase sequence situation assessment followed by plan execution. Instead, teams performed "forward-backward" sequences between plan formulation and plan execution and between plan formulation and situation assessment. Theoretically proposed sequences were less frequent in high-versus low-performing teams, whereas other phase sequences not proposed by theory were more frequent in high-performing teams. This suggests that high-performing teams were more flexible in their sequencing of team adaptation phases. Conclusions: Our research suggests more flexible sequences of team adaptation phases than proposed by theory and thus draws a nuanced picture of the complex nature of the team adaptation process. To fully capture the team adaptation process, we suggest incorporating forward-backward phase sequences into team adaptation theory.