Diversity in Teams: Perceptions of Team Learning Behaviour in a Military Staff Exercise

Soili Paananen,Laura Häyhä,Erik Hedlund

doi:10.31374/sjms.6

Soili Paananen, Laura Häyhä + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.31374/sjms.6

Copy DOI

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse diversity in team learning behaviour between and among national respondents’ perceptions during a military staff exercise (CJSE). Edmondson’s team learning behaviour model is used as the theoretical basis of the study. The results showed statistically significant differences both between and among national respondents’ perceptions. The research results indicate that team leader coaching, team psychological safety, the importance of obtaining expert knowledge as well as pre-exercise training are perceived to be crucial for team learning behaviour. The study has theoretical and practical implications for a more nuanced understanding of the diversity of team learning behaviour in the context of a multinational military teamwork exercise and for working as a part of multinational temporal teams in particular.

Highlights

Military teams differ in crucial ways from everyday work teams in terms of the life-and-death nature of their work, the complexity and dynamics of the mission context and considerable uncertainty about the work (Essens et al 2009)
This study focuses on analysing the diversity between Finnish and Swedish counterparts in relation to team learning behaviour in a Combined Joint Staff Exercise (CJSE)
F17c Team members go out and get all the information they possibly can from others such as experts or other parts of the organization

Summary

Introduction

Military teams differ in crucial ways from everyday work teams in terms of the life-and-death nature of their work, the complexity and dynamics of the mission context and considerable uncertainty about the work (Essens et al 2009). Military teams usually work under high stress and a heavy workload in hostile environments, and they often have to accomplish their tasks under conditions of mental fatigue while being in a critical timeframe. They have to work in extreme situations (Godé-Sanchez 2010; Melkonian & Picq 2010). This means that the team must be able to work together in order to accomplish an operation effectively and flexibly in as short a time as possible (Edmondson & Singer 2008; Ramthun & Matkin 2014; Yanakiev & Markov 2013). Little is known about how military teams learn to work together

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion