Team learning: building shared mental models

TLDR

The study investigates which team learning behaviors foster shared mental models and how these models mediate the link between learning behaviors and team effectiveness. The authors analyzed student teams in a business simulation game, measuring shared mental models with cognitive mapping techniques. Results show that co‑construction and constructive conflict behaviors promote shared mental models, which in turn improve team performance, highlighting the importance of shared cognition.

Abstract

To gain insight in the social processes that underlie knowledge sharing in teams, this article questions which team learning behaviors lead to the construction of a shared mental model. Additionally, it explores how the development of shared mental models mediates the relation between team learning behaviors and team effectiveness. Analyses were performed on student-teams engaged in a business simulation game. The measurement of shared mental models was based on cognitive mapping techniques. The results indicate that a team learning perspective provides insight in how people share knowledge. Particularly the team learning behaviors identified as co-construction and constructive conflict are related to the development of shared mental models. In addition, a shared mental model of the task environment in a team leads to improved performance. This underscores the importance of developing shared cognition in teamwork.