Supporting fluid teams: a research agenda.

Fluid teams are teams that are rapidly assembled from across disciplines or areas of expertise to address a near-term problem. They are typically composed of individuals who have no prior familiarity with one another, who as a team must begin work immediately, and who disband at the completion of the task. Prior research has noted the challenges posed by this unique type of team context. To date, fluid teams have been understudied, yet their relevance and application in the modern workplace is expanding. This Perspective article presents a concise overview of critical research gaps and opportunities to support selection, training, and workplace design for fluid teams.

Composition considerations for fluid teams: a review.

The need exists to better understand how to comprise fluid teams-teams that are assembled on short notice, from members with little to no familiarity, who come together to carry out a time-limited task, and then disband. Due to the ever-increasing complexity of the modern workplace, the demand for these types of fluid teams is growing in task domains such as the military, aviation, healthcare, and industry. The aim of this paper is to review the team composition literature to shed light on composition considerations for forming fluid teams.

A Lexical Approach to Assessing Stress: Development and Proof-of-Concept.

OBJECTIVE: We describe a methodology that provides a nonobtrusive means of detecting stress and related deficits through the assessment of spontaneous verbal output in ongoing communications. BACKGROUND: In high-demand environments, operational personnel are exposed to an array of environmental, task, and interpersonal stressors that can negatively impact performance as well as jeopardize safety and well-being. In these settings, the requirement exists to assess cognitive and emotional state "at a distance" and without interfering with ongoing performance. METHOD: We describe a lexical approach to assessing stress effects from ongoing or spontaneous verbal output. This approach is examined in a spaceflight analog setting. RESULTS: We assess stress effects in terms of five core dimensions and develop lexical indicators of these core stress dimensions and relevant sub-facets. We establish the proof-of-concept of this approach by presenting representative data from a spaceflight analog. CONCLUSION: This approach provides an unobtrusive means to evaluate ongoing task communications at the individual and team level in order to assess cognitive/emotional states such as workload, negative affect, attentional focus, anxiety, and team orientation. APPLICATION: There are many high-demand settings in which it is valuable to monitor the potential negative effects of stress on operational personnel. These environments include spaceflight, the military, aviation, law enforcement, and medicine.

Foundations of teamwork and collaboration.

The term teamwork has graced countless motivational posters and office walls. However, although teamwork is often easy to observe, it is somewhat more difficult to describe and yet more difficult to produce. At a broad level, teamwork is the process through which team members collaborate to achieve task goals. Teamwork refers to the activities through which team inputs translate into team outputs such as team effectiveness and satisfaction. In this article, we describe foundational research underlying current research on teamwork. We examine the evolution of team process models and outline primary teamwork dimensions. We discuss selection, training, and design approaches to enhancing teamwork, and note current applications of teamwork research in real-world settings. (PsycINFO Database Record

Social indicators of deception.

OBJECTIVE: This study addresses a practical homeland security issue of considerable current concern: In a situation in which the opportunity exists to question or interview concurrently two or more suspects, how does one determine truth or deception at a social level? BACKGROUND: Recent world events have led to an increased emphasis on the capacity to detect deception, especially in military, security, and law enforcement settings. In many screening or checkpoint situations, the opportunity exists to question two or more suspects regarding their involvement in some activity, yet investigators know very little regarding characteristics of speech or behavior that are exhibited between two suspects that indicate truth or deception. METHOD: We conducted an empirical study in which pairs of police officers and firefighters who had served together as partners took part. In the "truth" conditions, each dyad described a recent event in which they had actually taken part, and in the "deceptive" conditions, each dyad fabricated a story that did not take place. We expected that the officers in the truth-telling dyads would be able to draw on shared or transactive memory of the actual event they had participated in and would describe this event in a more interactive manner than would those in deceptive dyads. RESULTS: Results indicated greater evidence of synchrony of behavior as well as more interactive behaviors, such as mutual gaze and speech transitions, in truthful dyads than in deceptive dyads. CONCLUSION: This research provides a unique perspective on detecting deception in a social context, and the results have both theoretical and practical value. APPLICATION: These results can inform training programs and refine strategies used by screeners in field settings.