Search results

Large-scale and complex issues tend to require a system of interconnected teams (i.e., multiteam systems) that offer more manpower, resources, and flexibility to meet more challenging demands. However, multiteam systems often work within “extreme environments” that can be very stressful, and the impact of this stress can deplete team members’ Well-Being and hinder team performance. Current research on multiteam systems does not address the need to understand how environmental stressors may impact component teams and overall team functioning and how multiteam systems in these environments can regulate stress to overcome these problems. NASA’s spaceflight multiteam system provides a unique example that organizational researchers can look at to understand how the Mission Control team helps regulate stress in the spaceflight team operating within an isolated, confined, and extreme environment. This chapter articulates how NASA’s spaceflight multiteam system stress regulation practices can inform organizational psychologists and advance our understanding of multiteam system functioning.