Task Cohesion as a Facilitator of Team Decision Making Under Temporal Urgency

Abstract In this study, we examined whether task cohesion facilitated team decision making under conditions of high temporal urgency. Subjects were 138 undergraduates assigned to 46 mixed-gender, three-person teams. Two levels of task cohesion and temporal urgency were manipulated. Team members completed a task in which they were required to identify on a matrix the best sites for oil drilling based on distributed information. Member interactions during a plan- ning period were recorded by using Bales' encoding system. Team performance was the number of correct sites selected by members. Analyses indicated that high task-cohesive teams (a) devoted more time to planning and information exchange during the planning period and (b) communicated task-relevant infor- mation more frequently during the performance period than low task-cohesive teams. Also, planned comparisons indicated that low task-cohesive, high tem- porally urgent teams performed significantly worse than teams in the other three conditions. High task-cohesive, high temporally urgent teams performed as well as teams in both of the low timepressure conditions. These data indicate that task cohesion can improve team decision making under temporal stress.