Command and Control Teams: Techniques for Assessing Team Performance

Abstract

Abstract : The Air Force uses tactical command and control C2 systems to task and manage theater combat missions and responses to crisis situations. While current and planned C2 systems are heavily dependent on teams which operate elements of the system, team performance has not beem formally studied or recognized as important. To partially address this situation, the Air Force Human Resources Laboratory has begun a research program on tactical C2 teams. The overall goal of the program is to improve the effectiveness of tactical C2 team performance. The present study addresses this measurement issue. The research involved three steps. First, the literature on C2 units was reviewed, and site visits were made to two tactical and one strategic C2 unit in order to get background on C2 teams. The result of the first step was the selection of two tactical C2 teams for intensive analysis. Second, personnel from these two teams were interviewed, and exercises in which the two teams participated were observed. This step was used to identify critical individual and team tasks and to determine the ways in which the teams are currently evaluated. Third, a team dimesions taxonomy that had been previously developed by the Advanced Research Resources Organization was studied as the basis for developing an assessment instrument. A prototype of the instrument was prepared. It was proposed that the team dimensions be rated using simple scales measuring occurrence, time of occurrence, and reactivity. The prototype instrument concerns one component of team performance: team functions. Other criteria of team performance discussed in the report are productivity, individual member ability, and motivation.