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The learning health system (LHS) model was proposed to provide real-time, bi-directional flow of learning using data captured in health information technology systems to deliver rapid learning in healthcare delivery. As highlighted by the landmark National Academy of Medicine report "Crossing the Quality Chasm," the U.S. healthcare delivery industry represents complex adaptive systems, and there is an urgent need to develop innovative methods to identify efficient team structures by harnessing real-world care delivery data found in the electronic health record (EHR). We offer a discussion surrounding the complexities of team communication and how solutions may be guided by theories such as the Multiteam System (MTS) framework and the Multitheoretical Multilevel Framework of Communication Networks. To advance healthcare delivery science and promote LHSs, our team has been building a new line of research using EHR data to study MTS in the complex real world of cancer care delivery. We are developing new network metrics to study MTSs and will be analyzing the impact of EHR communication network structures on patient outcomes. As this research leads to patient care delivery interventions/tools, healthcare leaders and healthcare professionals can effectively use health IT data to implement the most evidence-based collaboration approaches in order to achieve the optimal LHS and patient outcomes.

The growing literature on meeting science has begun to offer numerous best practices for designing and facilitating team meetings. However, similar considerations are limited for meetings that take place within multiteam systems (MTSs). These MTSs require meetings to occur both within and between teams to achieve both proximal and distal goals. Accordingly, the unique attributes of and challenges faced by MTSs may impact meeting inputs, processes, outcomes, and performance in these complex systems. In this review, we integrate core theoretical and empirical evidence from the meeting science, teaming, and MTS literature to inform the development of key propositions. Specifically, these propositions address how the design, facilitation, and effectiveness of MTS meetings may be influenced and impacted by core linkage attributes of MTSs. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications as well as of future avenues for research that further explores and refines our understanding of meetings in MTS contexts. Plain Language Summary Title: Towards an Understanding of Multiteam System Meeting Design, Facilitation, & Effectiveness Plain Language Summary: Multiteam systems are unique organizational structures where at least two teams must cooperate to achieve interdependent goals. MTSs face unique challenges that come along with the need for between- team and within-team collaboration in complex, dynamic environments. Meeting science has contributed theoretically-informed research to provide best practices in meeting design and facilitation. However, there is a lack of research considering meetings that occur within the MTS context, and involve members from multiple teams. The current effort draws conclusions based on existing research from the meeting, teaming, and MTS sciences to generate theoretical propositions regarding MTS meeting issues that are in need of further exploration in future research. Overall, this review provides a foundation to begin understanding how MTS attributes may uniquely impact meeting facilitation, design, and effectiveness in such systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some leaders tend to use their intuition to think and make decisions more than others do. This individual difference (i.e., an intuitive cognitive style) may have important implications for the collectives of people they lead. Unfortunately, scholars lack a clear understanding of the conditions under which intuition is effective, especially in the context of large and complex organizational structures such as multiteam systems (MTSs). We argue that the effects of leaders' intuitive cognitive style on MTS performance depends on the amount of information load they face in their roles, as well as their level of introversion: a personality characteristic that is associated with an inward and reflective focus. Using a sample of 222 MTSs comprised of Captains in the United States Air Force, our study demonstrated that the intuitive cognitive style of leaders in high information load roles positively affected MTS performance, especially if they were high in introversion. In low information load roles, however, an intuitive cognitive style had a negative effect on MTS performance, especially for leaders low in introversion. We also argued and found that MTS coordination effectiveness played a key mediating role. Our study advances research in multiple areas of work, including intuition, MTSs, and leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a longitudinal exploration of identification with teams and multiteam systems (MTSs) in an organizational context that started using MTSs. Data were collected in five waves during the first 2 years in which the organization started the implementation of MTSs in order to aggregate teams in value streams as organizational units. The results show that there is a clear and distinct gap between team and MTS identification. This gap is greater in larger MTSs than smaller MTSs. This gap decreases in time mostly due to a rise in MTS identification in combination with a stable team identification across time. Additionally, our research showed that MTS identification is hindered when negative relations are present in the MTS. Finally, we show that identification with the team fosters innovative team performance and the identification with MTS moderates this positive association in a compensatory manner. The findings show important implications for the management of MTSs in modern organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The learning health system (LHS) model was proposed to provide real‐time, bi‐directional flow of learning using data captured in health information technology systems to deliver rapid learning in healthcare delivery. As highlighted by the landmark National Academy of Medicine report “Crossing the Quality Chasm,” the U.S. healthcare delivery industry represents complex adaptive systems, and there is an urgent need to develop innovative methods to identify efficient team structures by harnessing real‐world care delivery data found in the electronic health record (EHR). We offer a discussion surrounding the complexities of team communication and how solutions may be guided by theories such as the Multiteam System (MTS) framework and the Multitheoretical Multilevel Framework of Communication Networks. To advance healthcare delivery science and promote LHSs, our team has been building a new line of research using EHR data to study MTS in the complex real world of cancer care delivery. We are developing new network metrics to study MTSs and will be analyzing the impact of EHR communication network structures on patient outcomes. As this research leads to patient care delivery interventions/tools, healthcare leaders and healthcare professionals can effectively use health IT data to implement the most evidence‐based collaboration approaches in order to achieve the optimal LHS and patient outcomes.

Given the mixed evidence that having both women and men in the top management team (TMT) or in the board of directors (BOD) has a significant influence on organizational innovation, we resolve this issue by conceptualizing TMT–BOD gender diversity as part of a multiteam system, that has joint effects which impact organizational innovation. Evidence from the study of both Chinese firms and UK firms confirm our conceptualization by showing an interaction effect between TMT gender diversity and BOD gender diversity such that innovation is greatest when both are high. The positive TMT–BOD gender diversity interaction effect on innovation improves subsequent firm performance particularly in dynamic environments. The findings refine current thinking by going beyond research that tests intra‐team TMT or BOD diversity independently and instead considers inter‐team diversity across both leadership teams within the strategic leadership upper echelons. In sum, findings show that high levels of TMT and BOD gender diversity result in more organizational innovation, which ultimately improves firm performance. We offer implications for women's inclusion in leadership as well as for research on the upper echelons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning is a fundamental aspect of innovative new product development (NPD), and research shows that failures are a source of learning in NPD programs. However, little is known about the role of learning from successful experiences. We develop a model for learning from both success and failure, based on the characteristics of multiteam systems (MTS) and product complexity. Quantitative analysis of 167 NPD programs organized as MTS suggests that learning from success is crucial for NPD innovation at all levels of product complexity, while the effectiveness of learning from failure diminishes with increasing product complexity. Qualitative interviews provide further insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has shown that multiagency emergency response is beset by a range of challenges, calling for a greater understanding of the way in which these teams work together to improve future multiagency working. Social psychological research shows that a shared identity within a group can improve the way in which that group works together and can facilitate effective outcomes. In the present study, 52 semistructured interviews were conducted with 17 strategic and/or tactical responders during the COVID‐19 pandemic to understand the possible role of shared identity in the multiagency response to COVID‐19 and whether this was linked to factors that facilitated or challenged interoperability. Findings show evidence of a shared identity at a horizontal intergroup level among responders locally. However, there was limited evidence for a shared identity at the vertical intergroup level between local and national responders. Three key factors linked to shared identity appeared to contribute to effective multiagency working. First, pre‐existing relationships with other responders facilitated the ease with which responders were able to work together initially. Second, a sense of 'common fate' helped bring responders together, and finally, group leaders were able to strategically reinforce a sense of shared identity within the group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astronaut crews and ground control support teams are highly interdependent teams that need to communicate effectively to achieve a safe mission - despite being separated by large distances. Team communication quality with its facets clarity of objectives and information flow, is a key coordination process to achieve high team performance and task satisfaction. Especially in interdependent teams working in extreme environments with time-delayed communications, the team's success is threatened if communication is ineffective. In this study, we hypothesized that communication quality affects two key team outcomes, performance and task satisfaction, and that these effects can be explained by increases in workload (effort and frustration). Hypotheses were tested during the AMADEE-20 analog Mars mission hosted by the Austrian Space Forum. The analog astronauts (AA) were supported by an On-Site-Support (OSS) team and a remote Mission-Support-Centre (MSC) team. The MSC was the only contact line for both AA and OSS, and the communication between them had a one-way time delay of 10 min. Our study consisted of three runs in which members across the three different multiteam systems had to exchange information to solve an interdependent task. We measured communication quality, effort and frustration, task satisfaction, and team performance. Results show that clarity of objectives and information flow positively impacted multiteam system performance. Furthermore, clarity of objectives reduced experienced effort and this in turn enhances team performance. High levels of information flow reduced experienced frustration, which in turn enhanced task satisfaction. Our findings show that these facets of communication quality are essential for multiteam systems that work separated from each other by a distance. We stress that specific (team) communication training for astronauts and support personnel will be key to effective teamwork during future Mars missions, and thus to overall mission success. • Time-delayed communication influences team performance and task satisfaction. • Mental effort mediates the relationship among clarity of objectives and performance. • Frustration mediates the relationship between information flow and task satisfaction. • For successful future Mars missions, communication trainings are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Top management teams (TMTs) and boards of directors (boards) face increasingly turbulent environments as they strategically lead firms toward superior firm performance. The dominant theoretical lens about these two groups is agency theory, which focuses on the need for independence. We suggest that the environment in which the TMT and board govern is broader than conceptualized by agency theory, and thus theories regarding strategic leadership also require expansion. Drawing from the multiteam systems literature and broader systems theory, we offer a new consideration of the TMT and board as part of a strategic-oriented multiteam system, which we refer to as a strategic leadership system. The core premise of our theorizing is that TMTs and boards that strongly emphasize attention to both working independently and interdependently enhance their group and shared task performance, and in turn, firm performance. We further nuance this theorizing by describing how external environmental characteristics (i.e., munificence, complexity, dynamism) strengthen or weaken the influence of attention to working independently or interdependently, thereby shifting the zones of system effectiveness. Based on this theorizing, we offer a 2 × 2 framework combined with practical recommendations for strategic leaders. Additional implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical research examining team development has long lagged behind purely conceptual work. Moreover, traditional designs and logics frequently employed in the organizational sciences generally preclude the possibility of studying the trajectories of various team properties. This is problematic as continuity, nonlinearity, and within-construct feedback are implicit in many eminent conceptualizations of teams. Hence, the present investigation integrates dynamic logic, theory, and methodology from the discipline of developmental psychology—wherein the nature of the topic has necessitated a more careful examination of change over time—into the organizational literature. As a product of this integration, we propose and test a novel theoretical perspective that provides several contributions to teams research. First, we extend theory that has thus far been primarily used to explain intraindividual development in children to detail three testable principles of dynamism in team properties. Second, and utilizing a within-construct logic, we demonstrate that teams are indeed dynamic systems, but that the extent to which any particular team property may be considered dynamic is contingent upon characteristics of the property itself. Finally, we illustrate how teams' unique pasts may be leveraged to predict their asymmetric reactions to disruptive events in the future by employing a contemporary modeling technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiteam systems are large structures of interdependent teams that coordinate via planning before embarking on important projects. Although rarely studied, theory suggests that expression of convergent versus divergent goals and preferences during planning by leadership and component teams matters for multiteam system performance. Addressing this important issue, in a sample of multiteam systems consisting of Air Force officers, we examine how convergent versus divergent preferences for risk expressed during planning by the leadership and component teams impact multiteam system behavior and performance during the performance episode. Drawing from literatures on multiteam systems, diversity, and risk we posit and show that divergent (vs. convergent) preferences for risk have positive implications for multiteam system behavior and performance. Specifically, when the leadership and component teams hold divergent risk preferences, multiteam systems engage in more aspirational behavior and perform better. Alternatively, when the leadership and component teams hold convergent risk preferences, multiteam systems perform worse, partially because they display lower aspirational behavior. Consistent with a learning perspective, the beneficial effects of divergent preferences for risk increase over time. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective coordination of multiteam systems (MTSs) can help enterprises respond quickly to complex and uncertain problems under disasters. However, it is unclear how MTS coordination patterns dynamically affect MTS performance in disasters. This study examined how MTSs responded to an emergency production incident at the Zhejiang Huisong Pharmaceutical Company in China during the COVID-19 pandemic through a qualitative and quantitative study. Based on social network theory, we found that a centralized coordination pattern impacts MTS performance by giving play to the leadership team's network centrality position advantage during the crisis outbreak period. In the post-crisis period, the decentralized coordination pattern impacts MTS performance by giving play to the advantages of horizontal coordination. Our results help managers to consider the dynamics of coordination patterns in crisis management in ways that assist them in adapting an effective coordination pattern to changing and uncertain operational conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing interest in how to organize operations carried out by multiteam systems (MTS). Large MTS typically operate with a dedicated integration team, responsible for coordinating the operation. We report a study of a military multiteam system that prosecute time-sensitive targets. We asked whether and how the integration team's efficiency depends on its communication setting. Specifically, we studied how a co-located vs. a distributed communications setting influenced the shared situation awareness and whether the shared situation awareness again influenced the outcome of the decision processes. We found that performance fell when the integration team shifted from a co-located to a distributed setting. The fall in performance seemed to be mediated by a corresponding fall in situation awareness. Moreover, while the performance improved for each run in the co-located setting, we did not see such learning in the distributed setting. Qualitative observations revealed that misunderstandings lasted longer in a distributed configuration than in a co-located setting. We found that situation awareness at level 3 was the only level of situation awareness significant for predicting all dimensions of performance. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides practitioner and academic insights into the importance of examining non-technical skills in a multiteam system emergency response. The case of public health professionals is highlighted, illustrated with unique qualitative field data which focused upon the use of non-technical skills at a meso level of analysis. Results reflected the importance of context upon the multiteam system and highlighted seven non-technical skills used by public health professionals to support an effective response. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are noted for this hard to access professional group, located within emerging advances in the scientific inquiry of complex and increasingly evident, multi-team systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing interest in how to organize operations carried out by multiteam systems (MTS). Large MTS typically operate with a dedicated integration team, responsible for coordinating the operation. We report a study of a military multiteam system that prosecute time-sensitive targets. We asked whether and how the integration team’s efficiency depends on its communication setting. Specifically, we studied how a co-located vs. a distributed communications setting influenced the shared situation awareness and whether the shared situation awareness again influenced the outcome of the decision processes. We found that performance fell when the integration team shifted from a co-located to a distributed setting. The fall in performance seemed to be mediated by a corresponding fall in situation awareness. Moreover, while the performance improved for each run in the co-located setting, we did not see such learning in the distributed setting. Qualitative observations revealed that misunderstandings lasted longer in a distributed configuration than in a co-located setting. We found that situation awareness at level 3 was the only level of situation awareness significant for predicting all dimensions of performance. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

This paper provides practitioner and academic insights into the importance of examining non-technical skills in a multiteam system emergency response. The case of public health professionals is highlighted, illustrated with unique qualitative field data which focused upon the use of non-technical skills at a meso level of analysis. Results reflected the importance of context upon the multiteam system and highlighted seven non-technical skills used by public health professionals to support an effective response. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are noted for this hard to access professional group, located within emerging advances in the scientific inquiry of complex and increasingly evident, multi-team systems.

Multiteam systems (MTSs) are complex organizational forms comprising interdependent teams that work towards their own proximal goals within and across teams to also accomplish a shared superordinate goal. MTSs operate within high-stakes, dangerous contexts with high consequences for suboptimal performance. We answer calls for nuanced exploration and cross-context comparison of MTSs "in the wild" by leveraging the MTS action sub-phase behavioral taxonomy to determine where and how MTS failures occur. To our knowledge, this is the first study to also examine how key MTS attributes (boundary status, goal type) influence MTS processes and performance. We conducted historiometric analysis on 40 cases of failed MTS performance across various contexts (e.g., emergency response, commercial transportation, military, and business) to uncover patterns of within- and between-team behaviors of failing MTSs, resulting in four themes. First, component teams of failing MTSs over-engaged in within-team alignment behaviors (vs. between-team behaviors) by enacting acting, monitoring, and recalibrating behaviors more often within than between teams. Second, failing MTSs over-focused on acting behaviors (vs. monitoring or recalibrating) and tended to not fully enact the action sub-phase cycle. Third and fourth, boundary status and goal type exacerbated these behavioral patterns, as external and physical MTSs were less likely to enact sufficient between-team behaviors or fully enact the action sub-phase cycle compared to internal and intellectual MTSs. We propose entrainment as a mechanism for facilitating MTS performance wherein specific, cyclical behavioral patterns enacted by teams align to facilitate goal achievement via three multilevel behavioral cycles (i.e., acting-focused, alignment-focused, and adjustment-focused). We argue that the degree to which these cycles are aligned both between teams and with the overarching MTS goal determines whether and how an MTS fails. Our findings add nuance beyond single-context MTS studies by showing that the identified behavioral patterns hold both across contexts and almost all types of MTS action-phase behaviors. We show that these patterns vary by MTS boundary status and goal type. Our findings inform MTS training best practices, which should be structured to integrate all component teams and tailored to both MTS attributes (i.e., boundary status, goal type) and situation type (e.g., contingency planning). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiteam systems (MTSs) are complex organizational forms comprising interdependent teams that work towards their own proximal goals within and across teams to also accomplish a shared superordinate goal. MTSs operate within high-stakes, dangerous contexts with high consequences for suboptimal performance. We answer calls for nuanced exploration and cross-context comparison of MTSs “in the wild” by leveraging the MTS action sub-phase behavioral taxonomy to determine where and how MTS failures occur. To our knowledge, this is the first study to also examine how key MTS attributes (boundary status, goal type) influence MTS processes and performance. We conducted historiometric analysis on 40 cases of failed MTS performance across various contexts (e.g., emergency response, commercial transportation, military, and business) to uncover patterns of within- and between-team behaviors of failing MTSs, resulting in four themes. First, component teams of failing MTSs over-engaged in within-team alignment behaviors (vs. between-team behaviors) by enacting acting, monitoring, and recalibrating behaviors more often within than between teams. Second, failing MTSs over-focused on acting behaviors (vs. monitoring or recalibrating) and tended to not fully enact the action sub-phase cycle. Third and fourth, boundary status and goal type exacerbated these behavioral patterns, as external and physical MTSs were less likely to enact sufficient between-team behaviors or fully enact the action sub-phase cycle compared to internal and intellectual MTSs. We propose entrainment as a mechanism for facilitating MTS performance wherein specific, cyclical behavioral patterns enacted by teams align to facilitate goal achievement via three multilevel behavioral cycles (i.e., acting-focused, alignment-focused, and adjustment-focused). We argue that the degree to which these cycles are aligned both between teams and with the overarching MTS goal determines whether and how an MTS fails. Our findings add nuance beyond single-context MTS studies by showing that the identified behavioral patterns hold both across contexts and almost all types of MTS action-phase behaviors. We show that these patterns vary by MTS boundary status and goal type. Our findings inform MTS training best practices, which should be structured to integrate all component teams and tailored to both MTS attributes (i.e., boundary status, goal type) and situation type (e.g., contingency planning).

Background: As the organisation of health and social care in England moves rapidly towards greater integration, the resulting systems and teams will require distinctive leadership. However, little is known about how the effective leadership of these teams and systems can be supported and improved. In particular, there is relatively little understanding of how effective leadership across integrated care teams and systems may be enacted, the contexts in which this might take place and the subsequent implications this has on integrated care. Objective: This realist review developed and refined programme theories of leadership of integrated health and social care teams and systems, exploring what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Design: The review utilised a realist synthesis approach, informed by the Realist And Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards (RAMESES) publication standards, to explore existing literature on the leadership of integrated care teams and systems, complemented by ongoing stakeholder consultation. Empirical evidence specifically addressing leadership of integrated teams or services was limited, with only 36 papers included in the review. The evidence collected from these 36 papers was synthesised to identify and build a comprehensive description of the mechanisms of leadership of integrated teams and systems and their associated contexts and outcomes. Consultation with key stakeholders with a range of expertise throughout the process ensured that the review remained grounded in the reality of health and social care delivery and addressed practice and policy challenges. Results: Evidence was identified for seven potentially important components of leadership in integrated care teams and systems. These were ‘inspiring intent to work together’, ‘creating the conditions to work together’, ‘balancing multiple perspectives’, ‘working with power’, ‘taking a wider view’, ‘a commitment to learning and development’ and ‘clarifying complexity’. No empirical evidence was found for an eighth mechanism, ‘fostering resilience’, although stakeholders felt that this was potentially an important, long-term component of leadership. A key message of the review was that empirical research often focused on the importance of who the leader of an integrated team or service was (i.e. their personality traits and characteristics) rather than what they did (i.e. the specific role that they played in integrated working), although stakeholders considered that a focus on leader personality was not sufficient. Other key messages highlighted the way in which power and influence are used by integrated service leaders and identified the hierarchies between health and social care which complicate the leading of integrated teams and systems. Limitations: Evidence specifically addressing leadership of integrated care teams and systems was limited and lacking in detail, which restricted the degree to which definitive conclusions could be drawn around what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Conclusions: Research into the leadership of integrated care teams and systems is limited and underdeveloped, with ideas often reverting to existing framings of leadership in which teams and organisations are less complex. In making explicit some of the assumptions about how leaders lead integrated care teams and systems this review has contributed significant new perspectives, offering fresh theoretical grounding that can be built on, developed and tested further. Future work: By making explicit some of the assumptions underlying the leadership of integrated care teams and systems, this review has generated new perspectives that can be built on, developed and tested further. Study registration: This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42018119291. Funding: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme and will be published in full in Health and Social Care Delivery Research; Vol. 10, No. 7. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Interdisciplinary engineering of cyber physical production systems (CPPS) are often subject to delay, cost overrun and quality problems or may even fail due to the lack of efficient information exchange between multiple interdisciplinary teams working in complex networks within and across companies. We propose a direct integration of multiteam and organisational aspects into the graphical notation of the systems engineering workflow. BPMN++, with eight new notational elements and two subdiagrams, enables the modelling of the required cooperation aspects. BPMN++ provides an improved overview, uniform notation, more compact presentation and easier modifiability from an engineering point of view. We also included a first set of empirical studies and historical qualitative and quantitative data in addition to subjective expert-based ratings to increase validity. The use case introduced to explain the procedure and the notation is derived from surveys in plant manufacturing focussing on the start-up phase and decision support at site. This, in particular, is one of the most complex and critical phases with potentially high economic impact. For evaluation purposes, we compare two alternative solutions for a short-term management decision in the start-up phase of CPPS using the BPMN++ approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interdisciplinary engineering of cyber physical production systems (CPPS) are often subject to delay, cost overrun and quality problems or may even fail due to the lack of efficient information exchange between multiple interdisciplinary teams working in complex networks within and across companies. We propose a direct integration of multiteam and organisational aspects into the graphical notation of the systems engineering workflow. BPMN++, with eight new notational elements and two subdiagrams, enables the modelling of the required cooperation aspects. BPMN++ provides an improved overview, uniform notation, more compact presentation and easier modifiability from an engineering point of view. We also included a first set of empirical studies and historical qualitative and quantitative data in addition to subjective expert-based ratings to increase validity. The use case introduced to explain the procedure and the notation is derived from surveys in plant manufacturing focussing on the start-up phase and decision support at site. This, in particular, is one of the most complex and critical phases with potentially high economic impact. For evaluation purposes, we compare two alternative solutions for a short-term management decision in the start-up phase of CPPS using the BPMN++ approach.

First responders are on the front line of patient care and service, but research has shown that they are also on the front line of exposure to violence. Currently, there is a lack of evidence-based interventions that prepare first responders to handle violence on the job. With the increase in emergency medical services (EMS) call volume and reports of at least 57% of the EMS responders having experienced workplace violence, there is a need to develop scientifically systematic solutions to improve emergency responder safety. Using an adapted version of the hackathon method, academic scholars and practitioner conference attendees at the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research (INGRoup) Conference were deployed into three multidisciplinary teams to analyze the issue and develop specific solutions. These solutions offer unique interventions to improve first responder safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many important “grand” challenges—such as sending a team of humans on a voyage to Mars—present superordinate goals that require coordinated efforts across “multiteam systems” comprised of multiple uniquely specialized and interdependent component teams. Given their flexibility and resource capacity, multiteam system structures have great potential to perform adaptively in dynamic contexts. However, these systems may fail to achieve their superordinate goals if constituent members or teams do not adapt their collaboration processes to meet the needs of the changing environment. In this case study of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Spaceflight Multiteam Systems (SFMTSs), we aim to support the next era of human spaceflight by considering how the history of manned spaceflight might impact a SFMTS’s ability to respond adaptively to future challenges. We leverage archival documents, including Oral History interviews with NASA personnel, in order to uncover the key attributes and structural features of NASA’s SFMTSs as well as the major goals, critical events, and challenges they have faced over 60 years of operation. The documents reveal three distinct “eras” of spaceflight: (1) Early Exploration, (2) Experimentation, and (3) Habitation, each of which reflected distinct goals, critical events, and challenges. Moreover, we find that within each era, SFMTSs addressed new challenges adaptively by modifying their: (1) technical capabilities; (2) internal collaborative relationships; and/or (3) external partnerships. However, the systems were sometimes slow to implement needed adaptations, and changes were often spurred by initial performance failures. Implications for supporting future SFMTS performance and future directions for MTS theory and research are discussed.

Objective: To evaluate the implementation and outcomes of evidence-based fall-risk-reduction processes when those processes are implemented using a multiteam system (MTS) structure.Data Sources/study Setting: Fall-risk-reduction process and outcome measures from 16 small rural hospitals participating in a research demonstration and dissemination study from August 2012 to July 2014. Previously, these hospitals lacked a fall-event reporting system to drive improvement.Study Design: A one-group pretest-posttest embedded in a participatory research framework. We required hospitals to implement MTSs, which we supported by conducting education, developing an online toolkit, and establishing a fall-event reporting system.Data Collection: Hospitals used gap analyses to assess the presence of fall-risk-reduction processes at study beginning and their frequency and effectiveness at study end; they reported fall-event data throughout the study.Principal Findings: The extent to which hospitals implemented 21 processes to coordinate the fall-risk-reduction program and trained staff specifically about the program predicted unassisted and injurious fall rates during the end-of-study period (January 2014-July 2014). Bedside fall-risk-reduction processes were not significant predictors of these outcomes.Conclusions: Multiteam systems that effectively coordinate fall-risk-reduction processes may improve the capacity of hospitals to manage the complex patient, environmental, and system factors that result in falls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many important "grand" challenges—such as sending a team of humans on a voyage to Mars—present superordinate goals that require coordinated efforts across "multiteam systems" comprised of multiple uniquely specialized and interdependent component teams. Given their flexibility and resource capacity, multiteam system structures have great potential to perform adaptively in dynamic contexts. However, these systems may fail to achieve their superordinate goals if constituent members or teams do not adapt their collaboration processes to meet the needs of the changing environment. In this case study of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Spaceflight Multiteam Systems (SFMTSs), we aim to support the next era of human spaceflight by considering how the history of manned spaceflight might impact a SFMTS's ability to respond adaptively to future challenges. We leverage archival documents, including Oral History interviews with NASA personnel, in order to uncover the key attributes and structural features of NASA's SFMTSs as well as the major goals, critical events, and challenges they have faced over 60 years of operation. The documents reveal three distinct "eras" of spaceflight: (1) Early Exploration , (2) Experimentation , and (3) Habitation , each of which reflected distinct goals, critical events, and challenges. Moreover, we find that within each era, SFMTSs addressed new challenges adaptively by modifying their: (1) technical capabilities; (2) internal collaborative relationships; and/or (3) external partnerships. However, the systems were sometimes slow to implement needed adaptations, and changes were often spurred by initial performance failures. Implications for supporting future SFMTS performance and future directions for MTS theory and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of multiteam systems is increasing rapidly, as the diversity in skills and knowledge they supply assists organizations in responding more effectively to volatile environments. Multiteam systems consist of teams that depend on each other to achieve a common overarching goal, while simultaneously pursuing different proximal goals. However, multiteam systems often struggle to achieve the expected level of synergy. Multiteam system scholars have speculated that this may be owing to the presence of multiple teams within multiteam systems. Negative effects of salient group identities are well-documented, and yet there is no published empirical evidence of these same effects in multiteam systems yet. In this article, we examine the extent to which salient component team identities lead to multiteam system intergroup behavior. Given the nascent state of multiteam system research, we used Eisenhardt's method to generate theory from case studies. Three military multiteam systems were studied, with data collected before and during a deployment to Afghanistan. The study's findings contribute to our understanding of multiteam systems in several ways. First, the study provides empirical evidence that multiteam systems are vulnerable to intergroup behavior. Second, it shows how boundary spoilers, a well-designed team-building period and effective multiteam system leadership influence if and how multiteam system intergroup behavior develops. Finally, the results underscore the importance of existing knowledge of teams and groups in furthering our understanding of multiteam system processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Team effectiveness models in the literature are primarily concentrated on traditional teams, with few involving the multiteam system (MTS) level of analysis in the model. Teams achieve their goals by managing both teamwork (e.g., interpersonal, effective, motivational, cognitive) and taskwork (e.g., strategy, goal setting, project management) activities. When MTSs are involved, multiple teams manage their own teamwork and taskwork activities, while leadership must be in place to coordinate these activities within and between teams in order to achieve the organization’s goal (the MTS’s goal). This research study conducted a systematic review of current team effectiveness frameworks and models. A narrative-based method for theorizing was utilized to develop a new MTS team effectiveness framework. This research contributes to the MTS literature by providing a new formula for team effectiveness at both the team level (team effectiveness formula) and the MTS level (MTS team effectiveness formula). This research aids managers, practitioners, and researchers by providing a tool that accounts for all levels and temporal processes.

Many important contexts requiring teamwork, including health care, space exploration, national defense, and scientific discovery, present important challenges that cannot be addressed by a single team working independently. Instead, the complex goals these contexts present often require effectively coordinated efforts of multiple specialized teams working together as a multiteam system (MTS). For almost 2 decades, researchers have endeavored to understand the novelties and nuances for teamwork and collaboration that ensue when teams operate together as "component teams" in these interdependent systems. In this special issue on the settings of teamwork, we aim to synthesize what is known thus far regarding teamwork situated in MTS contexts and offer new directions and considerations for developing, maintaining, and sustaining effective collaboration in MTSs. Our review of extant research on MTSs reveals 7 key lessons learned regarding teamwork situated in MTSs, but also reveals that much is left to learn about the science and practice of ensuring effective multiteam functioning. We elaborate these lessons and delineate 4 major opportunities for advancing the science of MTSs as a critical embedding context for collaboration and teamwork, now and in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study evaluates the effectiveness of a training program designed to improve cross-functional coordination in airline operations.Background: Teamwork across professional specializations is essential for safe and efficient airline operations, but aviation education primarily emphasizes positional knowledge and skill. Although crew resource management training is commonly used to provide some degree of teamwork training, it is generally focused on specific specializations, and little training is provided in coordination across specializations.Method: The current study describes and evaluates a multifaceted training program designed to enhance teamwork and team performance of cross-functional teams within a simulated airline flight operations center. The training included a variety of components: orientation training, position-specific declarative knowledge training, position-specific procedural knowledge training, a series of high-fidelity team simulations, and a series of after-action reviews.Results: Following training, participants demonstrated more effective teamwork, development of transactive memory, and more effective team performance.Conclusion: Multifaceted team training that incorporates positional training and team interaction in complex realistic situations and followed by after-action reviews can facilitate teamwork and team performance.Application: Team training programs, such as the one described here, have potential to improve the training of aviation professionals. These techniques can be applied to other contexts where multidisciplinary teams and multiteam systems work to perform highly interdependent activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the complexities of today’s workplace, organizations and agencies are progressively turning toward interdependent systems comprised of teams, or multiteam systems (MTSs), to accomplish multifaceted tasks in challenging environments. Subsequently, MTSs have grown in popularity in group and team research, spanning a breath of disciplines (psychology, organizational behavior, human factors, communication, and medicine). In this review, our goal is to highlight the existing research across a range of disciplines regarding MTSs that serves to answer the question, “What do we know about MTSs?” while also developing a future research agenda aimed at answering the question, “Where does our research need to go to better understand MTSs?” We specifically highlight the current trends, dynamics, and methodological issues in MTSs to further build the foundation for improving MTS effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrates how naturalistic decision-making (NDM) can be usefully applied to study 'decision inertia' - Namely the cognitive process associated with failures to execute action when a decision-maker struggles to choose between equally perceived aversive outcomes. Data assessed the response and recovery from a sudden impact disaster during a 2-day immersive simulated emergency response. Fourteen agencies (including police, fire, ambulance, and military) and 194 participants were involved in the exercise. By assessing the frequency, type, audience, and content of communications, and by reference to five subject matter experts' slow time analyses of critical turning points during the incident, three barriers were identified as reducing multiagency information sharing and the macrocognitive understanding of the incident. When the decision problem was non-time-bounded, involved multiple agencies, and identification of superordinate goals was lacking, the communication between agencies decreased and agencies focused on within-agency information sharing. These barriers distracted teams from timely and efficient discussions on decisions and action execution with seeking redundant information, which resulted in decision inertia. Our study illustrates how naturalistic environments are conducive to examining relatively understudied concepts of decision inertia, failures to act, and shared situational macrocognition in situations involving large distributed teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]