TASK COHESION AS A FACILITATOR OF TEAM DECISION-MAKING UNDER TEMPORAL URGENCY

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 planning 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 information more frequently during the performance period than low task-cohesive teams. Also, planned comparisons indicated that low task-cohesive, high temporally 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 time-pressure conditions. These data indicate that task cohesion can improve team decision making under temporal stress.