Team mental models and team performance: a field study of the effects of team mental model similarity and accuracy

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beng-Chong Lim ◽  
Katherine J. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Field Study ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Team Mental Models ◽  
Team Mental Model ◽  
Model Similarity

Mirror, Mirror: Guided Storytelling and Team Reflexivity’s Influence on Team Mental Models

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Tesler ◽  
Susan Mohammed ◽  
Katherine Hamilton ◽  
Vincent Mancuso ◽  
Michael McNeese
Keyword(s):  
Team Performance ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Substantial Evidence ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Mental Models ◽  
Team Mental Model ◽  
Model Similarity ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Mirror Mirror ◽  
Methodological Ground

Because substantial evidence supports team mental model similarity as a positive predictor of team performance, it is important that we help team members to develop a shared understanding of relevant team content. The current study extended the list of team mental model antecedents to include guided storytelling as an effective team intervention. In the first known empirical investigation of planned story usage in teams, we broke new methodological ground by pioneering a team intervention to proactively harness the benefits of narrative. Results revealed that the combination of presenting important information in story format and giving members time to reflect upon their strategies had a positive effect on team mental model similarity. In addition, the positive indirect effect of storytelling on team performance via team mental model similarity was stronger when guided team reflexivity was present than absent. These findings provide encouraging evidence for the continued examination of storytelling and reflexivity in teams.

Team mental model characteristics and performance in a simulation experiment

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 899-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Yang ◽  
V.K. Narayanan ◽  
Yamuna Baburaj ◽  
Srinivasan Swaminathan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Simulation Experiment ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Mental Models ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Team Mental Model ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between the characteristics of strategic decision-making team’s mental model and its performance. The authors propose that the relationship between mental models and performance is two-way, rather than one-way. Thus, performance feedback should, in turn, influence strategic behavior and future performance by either triggering or hindering the learning process. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct the research in the setting of a simulation experiment. A longitudinal data set was collected from 36 teams functioning as strategic decision makers over three periods. Findings This study provides support for the positive impacts of both the complexity and centrality of a team’s mental model on its performance. The authors also find that positive performance feedback reduces changes in complexity and centrality of team mental models due to cognitive inertia. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature by investigating the specific mechanisms that underlie mental model evolution. Different from the existing studies on team mental models that mainly focus on similarity of these shared cognitive structures, this study examines another two characteristics of team mental model, complexity and centrality, that are more relevant to the strategic decision-making process but has not been extensively studied in the team literature. In addition, this study reveals that performance feedback has different effects on team mental models depending on the referents – past performance or social comparison – which advances the understanding of the learning effects of performance feedback.

scholarly journals Mental Models, Team Mental Models, and Performance: Process, Development, and Future Directions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Langan-Fox ◽  
Jeromy Anglim ◽  
John R Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Process Development ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Team Mental Models ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Long Time ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Team Mental Model

Since the 1940s, researchers have grappled with the notion of a mental model. The concept is eminently reasonable and somewhat seductive, but presents us with a number of difficulties regarding its incompleteness, multiplicity, and inconsistency. Not the least of these difficulties is the problem of “capturing” (measuring) mental models, and still more difficult, capturing a team mental model, an extension of the earlier term. Once captured, finding an appropriate analytic procedure to analyze team mental models has challenged researchers for a long time. Nonetheless, the literature suggests that the construct is well worth the trouble, with many applied benefits especially to industry. In the present work we set out to (a) review the notion of team mental models (TMM); (b) identify the key concepts and thinking behind their development; (c) demonstrate how they support teamworking performance; and (d) outline a three‐phase model of TMM development. Details on TMM measurement are given, before concluding with a discussion of the difficulties facing researchers who wish to study and utilize the notion, and some of the pressing research issues that need investigation.

scholarly journals The congruence of mental models in entrepreneurial teams – implications for performance and satisfaction in teams operating in an emerging economy

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Ziemiański ◽  
Katarzyna Stankiewicz ◽  
Michał T. Tomczak ◽  
Beata Krawczyk-Bryłka
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Emerging Economy ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Mental Models ◽  
Entrepreneurial Teams ◽  
Team Mental Model

Purpose The paper aims to explore the relationship between the congruence of mental models held by the members of entrepreneurial teams operating in an emerging economy (Poland) and entrepreneurial outcomes (performance and satisfaction). Design/methodology/approach The data obtained from 18 nascent and 20 established entrepreneurial teams was analysed to answer hypotheses. The research was quantitative and was conducted using an online questionnaire. Data was collected from each of the teams at two stages. Members of entrepreneurial teams were surveyed independently, which allowed measuring the congruence of their mental models pertaining to running a venture. Findings Findings reveal that team members’ mental model congruence is significantly related to financial performance and members’ satisfaction in the case of established entrepreneurial teams. However, in the case of nascent teams, there is no relationship between analysed variables. Practical implications Implications for theory and practice are offered with a special emphasis on entrepreneurship education. The concept of team mental model congruence is proposed to be included in training of nascent entrepreneurial teams, experienced companies and students. Originality/value The concept of team mental models investigated by the authors has been underexplored in entrepreneurship research. Results indicate that at least in some entrepreneurial teams, team mental models’ congruence is related to obtained outcomes. The paper proposes that principles of effectuation and causation can serve as the lens through which the mental model pertaining to running a venture can be analysed. It allows expanding studies on the congruence of team mental models in entrepreneurial teams beyond the strategic consensus.

scholarly journals How Influential Are Mental Models on Interaction Performance? Exploring the Gap between Users’ and Designers’ Mental Models through a New Quantitative Method

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingjun Xie ◽  
Jia Zhou ◽  
Huilin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Quantitative Method ◽  
User Performance ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Information Structures ◽  
Path Diagram ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Model Similarity ◽  
The Relationship

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the gap between two different mental models on interaction performance through a quantitative way. To achieve that, an index called mental model similarity and a new method called path diagram to elicit mental models were introduced. There are two kinds of similarity: directionless similarity calculated from card sorting and directional similarity calculated from path diagram. An experiment was designed to test their influence. A total of 32 college students participated and their performance was recorded. Through mathematical analysis of the results, three findings were derived. Frist, the more complex the information structures, the lower the directional similarity. Second, directional similarity (rather than directionless similarity) had significant influence on user performance, indicating that it is more effective in eliciting mental models using path diagram than card sorting. Third, the relationship between information structures and user performance was partially mediated by directional similarity. Our findings provide practitioners with a new perspective of bridging the gap between users’ and designers’ mental models.

Back and Forth: Using Conversation Analysis to Explore Dialogues of Sharedness of Mental Models

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Yi ◽  
Nicole B. Damen ◽  
Christine A. Toh
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Team Mental Models ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Design Activities

Abstract Shared mental models have been shown to enhance team performance. However, research has not observed the different types of sharedness of mental models that may uniquely impact the design process. Therefore, this study examines the types of sharedness of mental models that occur in design teams using Conversation Analysis on data collected from two design teams that performed activities in the early design process in a controlled lab environment. Designers were asked to develop an agreed upon list of ranked design principles, and then generate one or two solutions using the list. These design activities allow for the examination of the varying ways that designers share knowledge, negotiate, and reach understanding. Through our analysis, we identify characteristics of conversation that designers used to build shared understanding. Our results also show how team mental models are built from patterns of conversation that are evident during open-ended and unstructured design discussions. This work sets a foundation for future research to gain a deeper understanding of how designer mental models are shared in unstructured conversations that take place during design practice.

Do great teams think alike? An examination of team mental models and their impact on team performance

Surgery ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 161 (5) ◽  
pp. 1203-1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee K. Gardner ◽  
Daniel J. Scott ◽  
Kareem R. AbdelFattah
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Team Mental Models

How teams perform under emergent and dynamic situations: the roles of mental models and backup behaviors

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zikai Zhou ◽  
Pilar Pazos
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Dynamic Environment ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Mediation Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Mental Models ◽  
Theoretical Support ◽  
Task Requirements

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the roles of team mental models (TMMs) and backup behaviors for teams operating under emergent and dynamic situations. Specifically, the authors used a biased-corrected bootstrapping approach to assess the mediation effects of backup behaviors between the similarity of TMMs and team performance. Design/methodology/approach TMMs are a representation of the common understanding and beliefs in terms of task requirements or teamwork skills among different team members. It has wide implementations in various teams that are required to adapt quickly to an emergent and dynamic environment. The construct of TMMs has been studied extensively in previous literature, indicating a strong relationship between TMMs and team performance. However, how TMMs affect team performance under emergent and dynamic situations is only partially understood. Findings The findings of this study suggest that the similarity of task-focused mental models positively affects team performance through the mediation effects of backup behaviors. In contrast, the similarity of team-focused mental models does not positively affect backup behaviors and team performance. Originality/value This study contributes to the TMMs literature by investigating how teams perform in an emergent and dynamic environment. It not only provides theoretical support to the similarity of TMMs–backup behaviors–team performance relationships but has important implications in terms of team training and decision-making for teams operating under such conditions.

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