Relationships among team ability composition, team mental models, and team performance.

TLDR

The study examined how similarity and accuracy of team mental models, along with team ability composition, predict team performance. Eighty‑three dyadic teams completed a complex skill task during a two‑week training protocol. Accuracy of team mental models was a stronger predictor of performance than similarity, partially mediating the link between team ability and performance, whereas similarity had no effect.

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between the similarity and accuracy of team mental models and compared the extent to which each predicted team performance. The relationship between team ability composition and team mental models was also investigated. Eighty-three dyadic teams worked on a complex skill task in a 2-week training protocol. Results indicated that although similarity and accuracy of team mental models were significantly related, accuracy was a stronger predictor of team performance. In addition, team ability was more strongly related to the accuracy than to the similarity of team mental models and accuracy partially mediated the relationship between team ability and team performance, but similarity did not.