When, and how, do team members’ minds align? A dynamic perspective on shared mental models in teams with different levels of task and outcome interdependence

Project Information

ALIGNING MINDS

Grant agreement ID: 846260

DOI

10.3030/846260

Project closed

EC signature date 25 November 2019

Start date 1 September 2020

End date 31 August 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 187 572,48

EU contribution

€ 187 572,48

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ALIGNING MINDS (When, and how, do team members’ minds align? A dynamic perspective on shared mental models in teams with different levels of task and outcome interdependence)

Reporting period: 2020-09-01 to 2022-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Successful teamwork is crucial to solve many of today’s key problems, but to effectively perform the tasks, team members have to build and be aware of a shared mental model (i.e. a shared understanding about who does what, when, and with whom) successfully and in a timely manner. In this project, I theorise that the speed and level at which team members build a shared understanding depends on how much team members are dependent on each other to accomplish their work.

This is especially critical in today’s context of globalisation and digitisation, as team members are often geographically dispersed and work in multiple teams.

This project aims to uncover the range of possible perceived shared mental model trajectories, and understand whether and why different trajectories occur in different types of teams and what the implications for team processes and performance are.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In this action, we conducted two longitudinal studies – one at the individual level with more than 300 participants, and one at the team level with more than 30 teams. The studies comply with the ethics requirement and with the protection requirements set out in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union. This action increased my research-related (e.g. methodological and statistical) and transferable (e.g. dissemination and valorisation of knowledge) skills, and allowed me to take an important step further in my research career by strengthening my potential and future career prospects,

Regarding exploitation and dissemination, the work performed during this action has been presented at international conferences and research seminars. The project activities and the initial results have been included in MBA courses and coaching sessions. Therefore, I have provided stakeholders, namely managers, team leaders, team members, and decision-makers with new skills and insights related to my action.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

A key spearhead of the European Union is to be a more competitive and smarter Europe. Furthermore, teamwork is essential to create a competitive European Union. This project contributes to the development of the European Union labour market for the 21st century from a bottom-up micro perspective by providing managers, team members, and team leaders with skills and knowledge that aim to increase human capital and productivity gains, which ultimately promote sustainable and effective individuals and teams.

Title page slide