Overall Summary and Conclusions
In closing, this paper presented our
framework for assessing teamwork as part of
ALL. The framework was derived from the
literature on teams and on what is currently
known about effective team performance. We
have tried to capture the fundamental
constructs underlying effective teamwork, in
the anticipation that these constructs will generalize to a wide variety of countries, even
if their expression may differ across cultures.
In addition to delineating the key facets of
teamwork, this paper has also presented our
approach to measurement. Although it will
not be possible to measure team skill
competencies through direct observation, we
will nevertheless assess respondents’
knowledge of teamwork skills and
respondents’ attitudes toward working in
teams. The results will provide insight into
the distribution of these constructs in the
international adult population.
Finally, we view this framework as a
work in progress for two reasons. First, as
with all survey development, we envision
conducting significant pilot testing on the
approaches we have selected. This testing is
likely to lead to revision of our measurement
strategies. Although the strategies we have
suggested have been effective in other
domains, their efficacy for assessing teamwork
on an international level has yet to be
determined. Second, new information
becomes available on teams and the nature of
teamwork almost daily. The field is growing
and changing concurrently with our efforts. In
response, we view our framework as evolving
as well; thus, we will incorporate relevant new
findings as they become available