Scott Tannenbaum - Teams That Work

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Oxford University Press 2021

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Tannenbaum, Scott, author. | Salas, Eduardo, author.

Title: Teams that work : the seven drivers of team effectiveness /

Scott Tannenbaum and Eduardo Salas.

Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2021] |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020006697 (print) | LCCN 2020006698 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780190056964 (hardback) | ISBN 9780190056988 (epub) |

ISBN 9780190056995

Subjects: LCSH: Teams in the workplace. | Organizational behavior. |

Organizational effectiveness.

Classification: LCC HD66 .T364 2020 (print) | LCC HD66 (ebook) |

DDC 658.4/022dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006697

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006698

Dedicated to Becky and Vicki, our teammates for life

Throughout our careers we have worked with, led, and advised all sorts of teams. Like most of you, we have experienced the power of high-performing teams and the angst of struggling teams. It made us want to crack the code. How could we help more teams succeed?

While we were actively trying to help teams become more effective, we were also conducting empirical research and reading studies published by researchers around the globe. We became increasingly excited as we saw the research grow and mature to the point where we felt it could yield practical, evidence-based advice. Teams became our passion, and we developed a conviction that team leaders and members could create better, more successful team experiences, if only they knew about the research. It is that passion and conviction that led us to write this book.

This book is possible because of the efforts of those researchers who have conducted high-quality studies about teams, including members of the industrial/organizational psychology and human factors communities. That research provides the foundation for our framework and advice. Researchers, we alluded to your work throughout the bookwe hope we portrayed it accurately and made it accessible to an audience beyond the academic journals. Your work deserves the visibility, and we thank you for what you have done and continue to do to help crack the code.

To the many people who participated in our research, including military men and women, business leaders, astronauts, technologists, flight crews, pilots, air traffic controllers, production team members, healthcare practitioners, and financial professionalsthank you for allowing us to poke and probe and watch and listen to you as we tried to uncover what really drives teamwork. Thank you for opening your cockpits, your operating rooms, your neonatal intensive care units, your plants, your oil platforms, your boardrooms, your air traffic control towers, your work spacesthey provided an invaluable opportunity to ground us and show us how teams try to address real challenges. Thank you!

To our consulting clients, a big thank you for trusting us to work with and advise your teams; we learned a tremendous amount from those experiences. To our research sponsors, noted in the following textthank you for your commitment to the science we represent. Your partnership made a difference and your belief in us helped.

Prior to writing the book, we delivered many talks and led discussions about the science of teamwork at various companies, associations, and meetings. Audience members asked us questions about and shared examples of their teamwork challenges, which helped us better understand many of the common pain points we address in the book. To those of you who asked us, Do you have a book on this? we want to thank you for the encouragement. We can now answer, Yes we do!

Wed like to acknowledge the various agencies that have supported our research, including the US Army Research Institute, the Air Force Human Resources Lab, the Army Research Lab, the Office of Naval Research, the NAWC-Training Systems Division, NASA, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Science Foundation, and the Federal Aviation Administration. A heartfelt thank you to our colleagues in those agencies including Jim Battles, Wink Bennett, Bridget Boyle, Colanda Cato, Stan Collyer, Eleana Edens, Jimmy Garrett, Jay Goodwin, Stan Halpin, Kathryn Keeton, Heidi King, Lauren Leveton, Leah Rowe, Lauren Landon, Greg Ruark, and Brandon Vessey. While we are appreciative of the funding you provided, we value your collaboration and input even more.

Over the years, weve been extremely fortunate to have great teammates, collaborators, and partners who educated, challenged, and encouraged us. To our colleagues from The Group for Organizational Effectivenessincluding Becky Beard, Jamie Levy, and George Alligerwe are grateful for the support and advice you provided as we worked shoulder to shoulder on many research and consulting projects.

We also want to recognize some of the people who influenced our thinking about teams and who enriched our journey toward the development of this book, including Bill Baetz, David Baker, Wendy Bedwell, Suzanne Bell, Lauren Benishek, Clint Bowers, Art Blaiwes, Mike Brannick, Shawn Burke, Jan Cannon-Bowers, David Carnegie, Michael Castellana, Chris Cerasoli, Deb Cohen, Marvin Cohen, Chuck DBear Colgrove, Nancy Cooke, Mike Coovert, Chris Coultas, Leslie DeChurch, Deborah DiazGranados, Aaron Dietz, Dan Dwyer, Jim Driskell, Tripp Driskell, Erik Eddy, Amy Edmonson, Jennifer Feitosa, Steve Fiore, Jared Freeman, Clay Foushee, Jennifer Fowlkes, Mike Garrity, Megan Gregory, Becky Grossman, Richard Hackman, Mitch Heine, Bob Heilmreich, Barb Hess, Al Holland, Bill Howell, Ashley Hughes, Chelsea Iwig, Florian Jentsch, Joan Johnston, Joe Keebler, Deanna Kennedy, Gary Klein, Steve Kozlowski, Kurt Kraiger, Mike Kukenberger, Christina Lacerenza, Gary Latham, Liz Lazzara, Tammy Lowry, Margaret Luciano, Rebecca Lyons, Gerry Malecki, Travis Maynard, Shannon Marlow, Jen McCuen, Susan McDaniel, Dan McFarland, Mike Mitchell, Bill OKeefe, Andy Ortiz, Randy Oser, Heather Priest, Carolyn Prince, Joan Rentsch, Dick Reynolds, Bill Rizzo, Mike Rosen, Mary Salisbury, Marissa Schuffler, Diane Selleck, Daniel Serfaty, Kevin Stagl, Kim Smith-Jentsch, Maryanne Spatola, Renee Stout, Eric Thomas, Mark Teachout, Amanda Thayer, Sallie Weaver, Dale Watson, Jessie Wildman, Kat Wilson, Steven Woods, Janis Yadiny, Gary Yukl, Wayne Zachary, and Stephanie Zajac. Wed also like to acknowledge the many graduate students weve interacted with over the years for engaging in conversations that helped us refine our thinking. To Natalie Croitoru, thank you for your assistance tracking down research articles as we wrote the book. And to Amy Callan, thanks for the superb ongoing administrative support.