The relationship between Workload, Teamwork, Situation Awareness, and Performance in Teams: A microworld study

Abstract

In modern military organizations teamwork performance is central, yet the underlying factors contributing to such performance are debated. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how several known teamwork measures relate to a prior model of operator performance (Nahlinder et al, 2004). This study expands this model to the team level and in the command and control domain. Specifically, this paper studies the relationship between individual and team workload measures, situation awareness measures, and performance measures in 18 two-person teams. The study has two major findings: Firstly, the various team cognition measures statistically cluster into four meaningful concepts (workload, teamwork, situation awareness and performance). Secondly, a Structural Equation Model indicates that the relationship between the various individual and team measures can be described in a model resembling the model found in previous studies (Nahlinder et al, 2004). In particular, the results show that the general workload in the microworld study has a negative effect on both teamwork and situation awareness. Teamwork, in turn, also affects situation awareness, which has major impact on performance.