Analysis of organizational processes in adaptive command and control architectures

The relationship between overall team workload, the accuracy with which team members could estimate each other's workload, and the team's performance was examined under three different organizational structures for a joint task force command and control team. The study used a new workload questionnaire that asked team members to rate not only their own workload but also the workload of the team as a whole and the workload of each of the other individuals on the team. It was hypothesized that ability to accurately estimate the workload of others in the team might be associated with higher team performance. Results show that performance was highest under the organization where overall team workload was lowest. Surprisingly, however, the variability in individual workload was highest in this organization, and the accuracy of mutual workload estimation was lowest. We conclude that more complex hypotheses are needed about the relationship between the accuracy of mutual workload perceptions in a team, team processes, and team performance.