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Workplace research suggests that roughly equal communication between teammates is positively associated with team effectiveness. A distinction between teams in these studies and distributed action teams is the degree of role specialization and context-driven communication which may entail unequal degrees of communication. Yet, distributed action teams may have more equal footing to provide inputs in contexts such as mission planning or briefings. Twenty-two ad hoc teams participated in a simulated ground combat vehicle task in which teams conducted six-missions and briefed before each mission. We used team performance, team situation awareness, team workload, and team resilience as team effectiveness criteria. Balanced degrees of communication in mission briefs were correlated with performance and resilience measures, and largely uncorrelated with situation-awareness and workload measures. The overall amount of communication was also largely uncorrelated with all effectiveness measures. The results suggest that communication balance in mission briefs may help predict effectiveness in action teams.
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This content will become publicly available on April 3, 2026
From communication to action: using ordered network analysis to model team performance in clinical simulation
Background Effective team communication is crucial for managing medical emergencies like malignant hyperthermia (MH), but current assessment methods fail to capture the dynamic and temporal nature of teamwork processes. The lack of reliable measures to inform feedback to teams is likely limiting the overall effectiveness of simulation training. This study demonstrates the application of ordered network analysis (ONA) to model communication sequences during the simulated MH scenario. Methods Twenty-two anesthesiologists participated in video-recorded MH simulations. Each scenario involved one participant as the primary anesthesiologist with confederates in supporting roles. Team communication was coded using the Team Reflection Behavioral Observation (TuRBO) framework, capturing behaviors related to information gathering, evaluation, planning, and implementation. ONA modeled the sequences of these coded behaviors as dynamic networks. Teams were classified as high- or low-performing based on timely dantrolene administration and appropriate MH treatment actions. Network visualizations and statistical tests compared communication patterns between groups. Results Five of 22 teams (23%) were high-performing. ONA revealed high-performers transitioned more effectively from situation assessment (information seeking/evaluation) to planning and implementation, while low-performers cycled between assessment behaviors without progressing (p = 0.04, Cohen’s d = 1.72). High-performers demonstrated stronger associations between invited input, explicitly assessing the situation, stating plans, and implementation. Conclusions Integrating video coding with ONA provides an innovative approach for examining team behaviors. Leveraging ONA can uncover patterns in communication timing and sequences, guiding targeted interventions to improve team coordination in various real-world clinical and simulated settings (e.g., operating room, EMS, ICU).
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- Award ID(s):
- 2202451
- PAR ID:
- 10580782
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- BMC medical education
- ISSN:
- 1472-6920
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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