Team Performance in Dynamic Systems

Abstract

Teamwork is a critical component of complex decision making in dynamic systems. The research presented in this paper is concerned with team performance and the design of operator interfaces for dynamic systems. Thirty-six people were trained to supervise a simulated fluid processing plant using either a Graphic (Gr) Display or an Alphanumeric (A1) display. Baseline individual performance was obtained for operator ability to optimize system performance and diagnosis system failures. After individual performance was measured, operators were paired into teams. Teams were comprised of operators who had used either the same display or different displays as individuals, thus creating three types of teams: the A1A1 team; the GrGr team; and the GrA1 team. Each team supervised the simulated fluid processing plant in the same way as individuals, optimizing system performance while simultaneously diagnosing component failures. Results showed that, in general, teams were better able to control the system and diagnose failures than individuals; they were able to minimize fluid deviation from a set-point, used fewer control actions to control the system, required less time to diagnose failures, and probed the system less for information concerning component status. The GrA1 team produced the best overall performance of the three types of display teams.