As a form of interim or formative feedback, a sports timeout can provide effective instruction and lead to peak competitive performance (Andrews, 2015). A timeout is spontaneous and brief and can serve as an intervention to improve performance on the spot. Conversely, an after-action review (AAR), which is a summative feedback technique frequently used in the Army, is deliberate, comparatively lengthy, and after the fact. The U.S. Army Research Institute (ARI) is conducting research aimed at improving the assessment of hard to measure team constructs during live training and determining how to help instructors and trainees better understand the impact of those constructs on performance. Further, ARI is interested in feedback approaches that allow an instructor to effectively address these constructs. As such, the present research applies an interim feedback approach with small ad-hoc squads during a simulated tactical combat casualty care training exercise. This approach (termed the squad huddle) was designed to last approximately three minutes, led by an instructor during a transition from one set of tasks to another, similar to a sports timeout. The research team explored relevant sports psychology literature to identify characteristics of effective timeouts. Further, the team reviewed extant feedback literature to incorporate best practices in the huddle design that would allow the instructor to reduce ambiguity around goals and standard performance (Gregory & Levy, 2015), reduce cognitive load on the huddle participants (Sweller, 1988), balance positive and constructive feedback, and ensure psychological safety. The literature search resulted in a carefully designed squad huddle that was iteratively refined based on Army instructor feedback. An experiment was conducted to field test the efficacy of the huddle with favorable results. Data (mean score differences) indicate that such a feedback approach may benefit trainers, instructors, and educators as they seek to improve small unit or group performance.
Keywords
TEAM TRAINING
Additional Keywords
interim feedback; team performance; sports psychology; formative feedback; performance improvement