Lexicon as a Predictor of Team Dynamics

Abstract

Purpose

The reliance on teams in today’s work environment underscores the importance of understanding how teams function. To better understand teams, one must be able to measure team dynamics or interaction. The purpose of this chapter is to outline an unobtrusive approach to measuring team dynamics from verbal communications.

Methodology

The basic premise of this approach is that the words we use provide insight into how we feel and think at any given time. The methodology described in this chapter employs a lexical analytic approach to examining team dynamics. To best accomplish this, we first identify the principal features or dimensions of teamwork and then we propose lexical measures that may map to these processes.

Practical implications

This approach can be employed to track team functioning over time “at a distance” without interrupting task performance.

Originality

This chapter describes an approach to measuring relevant teamwork dimensions through verbal content. This approach has the potential to give us direct, unobtrusive insight into the emotional and cognitive states of teams. It is original in its examination of how team dynamics can be indexed in speech.

Citation

Driskell, T., Driskell, J.E. and Salas, E. (2017), "Lexicon as a Predictor of Team Dynamics", Team Dynamics Over Time (Research on Managing Groups and Teams, Vol. 18), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 231-257. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1534-085620160000018010