The Impact of Cross-Training and Workload on Team Functioning: A Replication and Extension of Initial Findings

摘要

Although previous research has shown that cross-training team members improves team performance, a number of questions remain concerning the nature of cross-training. The current study provides an extension of previous cross-training research by investigating two theoretical issues: the nature of cross-training and the joint impact of cross-training and workload on team functioning. The study examined 40 three-person teams performing a simulated radar task. Results indicated that positional rotation was an effective cross- training method for highly interdependent tasks, that cross-trained teams devel- oped a greater degree of interpositional knowledge than did teams that were not cross-trained, and that cross-training was important only under high- workload performance conditions.