Pushing the Boundaries: Multiteam Systems in Research and Practice: Volume 16

As work demands have become increasingly complex, organizations and agencies are progressively turning toward larger systems comprised of teams, or multiteam systems (MTSs), to accomplish multifaceted tasks in challenging environments. Today, many organizations require these complex systems in order to achieve the dynamic goals that are required of our ever-changing world. Subsequently, MTSs have become a growing area of interest in organizational research, primarily due to their increasing prominence in organizational settings.

In this introductory chapter, our goal is to highlight a selection of existing research regarding MTSs that serves to answer the question, “What do we know about MTSs?” while also setting up the question that serves as a recurrent theme throughout this volume, “Where does our research need to go in order to better serve MTSs in practice?”

While there has been a great advancement in the area of MTSs in recent years, there is still much to be explored in terms of the challenges and opportunities that MTSs afford in practice.

It is the goal of this chapter that we will set the stage for readers interested in identifying the current trends, dynamics, and issues in MTSs in the real world for the purposes of both expanding our research and theory on MTSs as well as further building the foundation for improving their development, implementation, and effectiveness “in the wild.”

The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate some of the complexities and decision points that must be made while attempting to collect data on multiteam systems (MTSs).

An integration of the literature along with prior experience in collecting data on MTSs in both field and laboratory environments was used to identify a series of challenges, decision points, and mitigation strategies.

Ten challenges and corresponding decision points were identified with respect to collecting data on MTSs. Specifically, seven challenges were identified that are associated with defining the research context, two with methodology and measurement, and three related to management and analysis of the collected data. While the challenges presented here are by no means the only challenges and considerations, they are some of the more frequent ones.

Provision of a series of challenges, considerations, and decision points with regard to collecting data on MTSs. Specifically, touched upon are those challenges and corresponding decision points associated with defining the research context, methodology and measurement, and data management and analysis.

Early writings about teamwork in healthcare emphasized that healthcare providers needed to evolve from a team of experts into an expert team. This is no longer enough. As patients, accreditation bodies, and regulators increasingly demand that care is coordinated, safe, of high quality, and efficient, it is clear that healthcare organizations increasingly must function and learn not only as expert teams but also as expert multiteam systems (MTSs).

In this chapter, we offer a portrait of the robust, and albeit complex, multiteam structures that many healthcare systems are developing in order to adapt to rapid changes in regulatory and financial pressures while simultaneously improving patient safety, quality, and performance.

The notion of continuous improvement rooted in continuous learning has been embraced as a battle cry from the boardroom to the bedside, and the MTS concept offers a meaningful lens through which we can begin to understand, study, and improve these complex organizational systems dedicated to tackling some of the most important goals of our time.

In this chapter, we raise awareness of the larger network in which multiteam systems (MTSs) are situated. We posit that in the complex operations conducted by military units, MTSs are not isolated entities, but rather exist in exponentially complex systems that include additional challenges for both research and practice.

An operational example involving an Army Brigade Combat Team Headquarters is presented to explain the details of the exponentially complex MTSs inherent in military operations, raise awareness about challenges that plague successful mission accomplishment, and discuss the way forward for research and practice.

The Army Brigade Combat Team Headquarters is characterized as a traditional MTS, embedded in a system of hierarchical MTSs, further embedded within a parallel structure of MTSs. Challenges inherent in these organizational structures provide direction for research and practice to address the exponentially complex meta-systems that are prevalent throughout the military.

While researchers have begun to address teams existing in larger networks, or MTSs (Mathieu, Marks, & Zaccaro, 2001), much of the existing research is based on small or isolated systems. As a result, our understanding of the meta-systems in which many of these MTSs exist is limited. This chapter provides concrete examples of an exponentially complex MTS within a military environment and highlights challenges to be addressed in both research and practice.

This chapter describes the complexity of large-scale disaster recovery programs in the United States, the challenges faced by these programs, and the importance of multiteam systems in overcoming these challenges.

This chapter is a case study based on the experience of the authors in hurricane recovery programs.

Multiteam systems provide the range of expertise and experience needed to implement complex large-scale disaster recovery programs. For such disasters, responsibility for recovery work needs to be divided among specialized teams with unique expertise, some of which act as checks and balances for others. Challenges facing these teams include ensuring compliance with multiple Federal and state requirements, providing sufficient training to program staff, modifying procedures in response to changing program policies, and communicating changes for all pressure to move quickly, while at the same time facing intense pressure to process applications for assistance as rapidly as possible.

This chapter provides organizations responsible for disaster recovery important information about the scope of work and challenges they are likely to face following a large-scale disaster.

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight some of the critical multiteam system (MTS) issues that are faced in healthcare by utilizing case studies that illustrate the transition of a patient through the healthcare system and suggest a possible approach to studying these issues.

The approach taken by the authors is a case study approach, which is used to illustrate the transition of a patient through several venues in a healthcare system. This approach elucidates the MTS nature of healthcare. Moreover, a methodological explanation, social network analysis (SNA), for exploring the description and analysis of MTSs in healthcare is provided.

The case study approach provides concrete examples of the complex relationship between providers caring for a single patient. The case study describes the range of shared practice in healthcare, from collaborative care within each setting to the less obvious interdependence between teams across settings. This interdependence is necessary to deliver complex care but is also a source of potential errors during care. SNA is one tool to quantify these relationships, link them to outcomes, and establish areas for future research and quality improvement efforts.

This chapter offers a unique holistic view of the transition of a patient through a healthcare system and the interdependency of care necessary to deliver care. The authors show a methodology for assessing MTSs with a discussion of utilizing SNA. This foundation may offer promise to better understand care delivery and shape programs that can lead to improvement in care.

To present a case study of coordination mechanisms employed by a multiteam system (MTS) charged in an international oil and gas company.

Qualitative method with longitudinal observation and interviewing.

The MTS, and particularly its coordination mechanism of a regular collaboration meeting, provided multiple benefits, such as access to diverse competences, capabilities for solving problems crossing team boundaries, and opportunities for developing relationships between the different teams involved. There were also observed challenges: a lack of shared understanding between the participants concerning the purpose of the main collaboration session of the MTS, different levels of insight into each other’s areas of competence, information sharing, shifting team membership, multiteam membership, time pressure, and technology-mediated communication.

Providing an illustration of the MTS concept in a real organizational setting and the role of a regular collaboration meeting as a coordination mechanism for the MTS.

Spaceflight presents a unique environment in which multiteam coordination is often required for mission success. This chapter will explore the topic of multiteam systems (MTSs) and their functioning in this environment.

This chapter describes the MTS case of human spaceflight in terms of a specific subset of the system involved in current human spaceflight missions: NASA Mission Control and the NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station. In addition to describing the system itself, this chapter describes notable advantages and disadvantages of this particular MTS, along with potential future issues in human spaceflight and research directions for use of MTSs in spaceflight.

More than 40 years of successful human spaceflight missions have demonstrated many of the benefits and drawbacks of MTSs across some of the most challenging environments faced by any teams attempting coordination. These environmental challenges include extreme distances, limited modes of communication, complex systems, novel problems, and coordination between teams from multiple countries with differing goals and priorities. The specific advantages and drawbacks of MTSs in this environment, and the impacts of the aforementioned environmental challenges, are discussed.

This chapter examines a known operational and successful MTS that operates in an environment in which many of the standard assumptions regarding teams and MTSs may not apply.

Although adverse events are less studied in the prehospital setting, the evidence is beginning to paint an alarming picture. Consequently, improvements in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) demand a paradigm shift regarding the way care is conceptualized. The chapter aims to (1) support the dialogue on near-misses and adverse events as a learning opportunity and (2) to provide insights on applications of multiteam systems (MTSs).

To offer discussion on near-misses and adverse events and knowledge on how MTSs are applicable to emergency medical care, we review and dissect a complex patient case.

Throughout this case discussion, we uncover seven pertinent issues specific to this particular MTS: (1) misunderstanding with number of patients and their locations, (2a) lack of context to build a mental model, (2b) no time or resources to think, (3) expertise-facilitated diagnosis, (4) lack of communication contributing to a medication error, (5) treatment plan selection, (6) extended time on scene, and (7) organizational culture impacting treatment plan decisions.

By dissecting a patient case within the prehospital setting, we can highlight the value in engaging in dialogue regarding near-misses and adverse events. Further, we can demonstrate the need to expand the focus from simply teams to MTSs.

Multiteam systems (MTSs) comprise much of the financial corporate landscape. However, little is known about these MTSs regarding formation, goal setting, daily operation, and maintenance. In order to learn more about the ways in which these MTSs might operate and the tasks they may be charged with, the authors interviewed professionals from the financial industry.

The current chapter presents a case study analysis based on information gathered from these interviews and proposes directions for future research efforts.

The information gathered suggests that there is much opportunity for MTS research in the corporate sector, particularly in the financial services industry. Information from the case study also suggests that individual differences can hinder group process and organizational change.

This chapter contributes to the literature on MTSs by discussing multiteam situations as they relate to executive management, higher-level leadership, and organizational change in a particular financial services company.

This chapter provides an overview of the case and draws attention to the types of teams who respond to disasters, specifically a structure fire. We then provide a detailed recounting of the case, what resources were at play, and how the incident resolved.

There have been a number of case studies that have documented the challenges organizations face in monitoring complex and turbulent environments and the anomalous events that characterize them combined with multiteam systems’ unique combination of intricacy, propensity toward hazards, and necessary team cohesion makes it particularly difficult to foreshadow – and subsequently train for – all possible contingencies. The majority of the cases reported here is based on the official National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health report that occurred shortly after the event and which is a required investigation by both State and Federal laws. Although the report is publicly available, specific identifying information was removed to allow for ease of comparison and to emphasize the multiteam system processes of interest.

As outlined in the case study above, there are many challenges that were faced in this multiteam system response to the supermarket structure fire. We discuss the response of the multiteam systems and attempt to identify a few key areas where miss-steps occurred and how the response would be different when multiteam systems function properly. We conclude with some practical implications from the incident as well as how multiteam systems can be improved based on this case study.

This chapter provides a real-world example of a disaster and systematically analyzes the steps and decisions that were utilized during the process from a multiteam perspective. Hopefully, the analysis of the case presented here will assist in developing increased awareness during high-stress encounters and offer an unbiased evaluation of what is required to properly train and therefore mitigate such tragedies in the future.

Although the practice of multiteam systems (MTSs) has been around for decades, the science of these systems has only just begun. Within the past decade and a half, although much remains to be investigated, substantial progress has been made in breaking the surface of this research. The current volume provides a review of MTS case studies and the current chapter provides a synopsis of this research. The goal of this chapter is to identify how MTSs are operating under real-world conditions in order to bridge MTS science and practice.

In this chapter, the authors provide a case analysis of the presented MTSs in the current volume in order to identify issues innate to MTSs. An approach based on the SWOT analysis technique was utilized to identify strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of the identified MTSs. In addition, six lessons learned were extracted from a content analysis of the successes and failures of these MTSs.

Although MTSs may be unique to the environment in which they operate, there are several features which seem to be inherent to all. Strengths include possessing the ability to manage complex tasks and unexpected events, being flexible in nature, and integrating communication across levels. In opposition, weaknesses include the use of nontraditional communication patterns, challenges stemming from unit diversity and resources, and the lack of common training. Lessons learned from identified MTSs include (1) utilize effective communication; (2) establish shared mental models; (3) identify roles and responsibilities; (4) convey accountability and ownership; (5) consider the ramp-up period; and (6) train individuals in an MTS at multiple levels. Opportunities and threats to MTSs are also discussed in this chapter.

This chapter offers several contributions to the state of the field in regard to MTSs. The current chapter provides a detailed content analysis of several real-world MTSs. Characteristics inherent to MTSs are identified and discussed, and lessons learned are extracted. Traditionally, science and practice has focused on the presentation of lab-based MTSs; the current volume breaks new ground by identifying how MTSs operate “in the wild.” This chapter provides a summation of this volume and offers lessons learned for MTS researchers and those working within MTSs.