Time for temporal team mental models: Expanding beyond “what” and “how” to incorporate “when”

Abstract

Although often ignored, establishing and maintaining congruence in team members' temporal perceptions are consequential tasks that deserve research attention. Integrating research on team cognition and temporality, this study operationalized the notion of a temporal team mental model (TMM) at two points in time using two measurement methods. Ninety eight threeperson teams participated in a computerized team simulation designed to mimic emergency crisis management situations in a distributed team environment. The results showed that temporal TMMs measured via concept maps and pairwise ratings each positively contributed uniquely to team performance beyond traditionally measured taskwork and teamwork content domains. In addition, temporal TMMs assessed later in teams' development exerted stronger effects on team performance than those assessed earlier. The results provide support for the continued examination of temporal TMM similarity in future research.

The Joint Influence of Intra- and Inter-Team Learning Processes on Team Performance: A Constructive or Destructive Combination?

“…However, the cross-sectional nature of the current study and the adoption of the IPO-framework (Ilgen et al 2005;Kozlowski 2015), restrained us from drawing causal conclusions and building knowledge on the temporal aspects of team learning. We therefore want to side with the growing call for adopting more longitudinal methods (Kozlowski 2015;Mohammed et al 2015), which are necessary for further exploration of when exactly the combination of intra-and inter-team learning adds to team performance. For example, teams may first need to focus their efforts on intra-team learning in order to build within-team efficacy and interdependence, before gathering knowledge from external parties.…”

When shared cognition leads to closed minds: Temporal mental models, team learning, adaptation and performance

“…A similar temporal mental model helps team members to synchronize their actions with the actions of other members; while an accurate temporal mental model helps to fit the team' actions with the external temporal demands (Gevers et al, 2006;Mohammed et al, 2012Mohammed et al, , 2015.…”

“…A temporal mental model helps teams to coordinate their actions and perform the tasks on time, and is particularly important when team members are highly interdependent, and need to collaborate and share information continuously (Mohammed et al, 2015).…”

“…As teams operate in organizational contexts that are systematically pressured by time, they are better able to engage in learning behaviors when team members share a temporal mental model -common knowledge about deadlines for task accomplishment, the pacing or speed at which activities occur, the time available for each activity, and the sequencing of tasks (Mohammed, Hamilton, Tesler, Mancuso & McNeese, 2015;Santos, Uitdewilligen, & Passos, 2015;Standifer & Bluedorn, 2006). A temporal mental model helps teams to coordinate their activities according to the time schedule and to anticipate and understand the actions of each other based on a commonly shared blueprint of plans and schedules (Mohammed et al, 2015;Santos et al, 2015).…”

Adaptation and Cognition of High-Risk Environment Teams in an Input-Mediator-Outcome Framework

“…The first component of this definition is "deadlines" which provide cues for delineating time, communicate to members how they should prioritize their time and allow employees to plan and fit their time with the organizational context. The second component is the pacing or speed at which activities take place, while the third component is "the sequencing of tasks" which refers to the agreement between team members on the sequence in which they accomplish the tasks (Mohammed et al, 2015). We argue that high-risk environment teams in high trigger severity situations not only need to have shared team-and taskrelated knowledge, but they also must have a common understanding of the current situation and the time-related aspects of the task execution.…”