Table 1. Primary teamwork competencies
| Competency | Definition |
|---|---|
| Knowledge competencies | |
| Cue/strategy associations | The linking of cues in the environment with appropriate coordination strategies. |
| Shared task models/situation assessment | A shared understanding of the situation and appropriate strategies for coping with task demands. |
| Teammate characteristics familiarity | An awareness of each teammate's task-related competencies, preferences, tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses. |
| Knowledge of team mission, objectives, norms, and resources | A shared understanding of a specific goal(s) or objective(s) of the team as well as the human and material resources required and available to achieve the objective. When change occurs, team members' knowledge must change to account for new task demands. |
| Task-specific responsibilities | The distribution of labor, according to team members' individual strengths and task demands. |
| Skill competencies | |
| Mutual performance monitoring | The tracking of fellow team members' efforts, to ensure that the work is being accomplished as expected and that proper procedures are followed. |
| Flexibility/adaptability | The ability to recognize and respond to deviations in the expected course of events, or to the needs of other team members. |
| Supporting/back-up behavior | The coaching and constructive criticism provided to a teammate, as a means of improving performance, when a lapse is detected or a team member is overloaded. |
| Team leadership | The ability to direct/coordinate team members, assess team performance, allocate tasks, motivate subordinates, plan/organize, and maintain a positive team environment. |
| Conflict resolution | The facility for resolving differences/disputes among teammates, without creating hostility or defensiveness. |
| Feedback | Observations, concerns, suggestions, and requests, communicated by team members in a clear and direct manner, without hostility or defensiveness. |
| Closed-loop communication/information exchange | The initiation of a message by a sender, the receipt and acknowledgement of the message by the receiver, and the verification of the message by the initial sender. |
| Attitude competencies | |
| Team orientation (morale) | The use of coordination, evaluation, support, and task inputs from other team members to enhance individual performance and promote group unity. |
| Collective efficacy | The belief that the team can perform effectively as a unit, when each member is assigned specific task demands. |
| Shared vision | The mutually accepted and embraced attitude regarding the team's direction, goals, and mission. |
| Team cohesion | The collective forces that influence members to remain part of a group; an attraction to the team concept as a strategy for improved efficiency. |
| Mutual trust | The positive attitude that team members have for one another; the feeling, mood, or climate of the team's internal environment. |
| Collective orientation | The common belief that a team approach is more conducive to problem solving than an individual approach. |
| Importance of teamwork | The positive attitude that team members exhibit with reference to their work as a team. |