Team Communication Patterns as Measures of Team Processes: Exploring the Effects of Task Urgency and Shared Team Experience

Abstract

Inter-member team communication is a rich yet challenging data source for understanding team processes. In this paper, we present a quantitative analysis of team communication based on videotaped real-life trauma patient resuscitation. Team communication patterns were compared under varying conditions: (a) when the team's task — patient treatment — was high versus low in urgency; and (b) when team members had more or less shared experience as a team. The results provide initial support for the utility of communication analysis for the study of team performance and team leadership. Tools for assessment of team processes are a key to effective research in team performance, especially in complex, time-pressured tasks. The team communication patterns depicted the adaptive nature of team structures, especially when the teams were confronted with potentially competing goals, such as on-the-job training and treatment of trauma patients.