Improving Training and Performance of Navy Teams

A design for a large-scale research program on improving Navy team effectiveness. The report assesses the most critical Navy teams, identifies deficiencies in the performance of these teams, and recommends new research that could lead to significant improvements in team performance. The major conclusions are (1) teams performing time-stressed decisionmaking using symbolic information are most critical to mission effectiveness and ship survivability; (2) several currently available instructional methods could immediately improve training; (3) new interdisciplinary research should study simulated teams in laboratory task environments that provide computer-controlled task scenarios, realistic environmental and enemy models, and intra-team communications networks; and (4) promising approaches to improving teams include improving performance models of team tasks, improving the tools and methods of training, compensating for disruptive effects of turnover in team personnel, improving team organization, and improving human-machine systems to aid task performance.