A mental model is an essential element in an individual’s decision-making process. The concept of the shared mental model is used to demonstrate team situational awareness (Stout et al., 2017). Share mental models focus on the roles and responsibilities of team members. In other words, shared mental models revolve around accumulating diverse mental models represented in a team. Moreover, the shared mental model is the starting point for the team to identify how the team members will address the project. The mental model’s primary focus is to share better information with the whole team members to create awareness. In addition, a shared mental model is a psychological tool that helps to facilitate effective teamwork. Critically, the demand for the healthcare sector requires shared mental models to promote safe and effective patient care. The three crucial elements in the shared mental model are reactivity of the situation, a realistic view of the problem, and coordination while working together using shared cognitive measures (Stout et al., 2017).
The shared mental model must accurately reflect reality for a realistic picture of the model. The actual component of the situation serves as the fundamental for the plan of action. For instance, if the team members have essential elements, they will always agree with the goals and plan to achieve them. Thus, the team needs to achieve its goals using the shared mental model. Coordination as an element of the shared mental model can distinguish success and failure in a project. Effective teams coordinate actions through overall cooperative values, especially establishing reasonable goals, project plans and sharing correct information. And lastly, influential groups appropriately react to different situations by informing team members on the changes and achievable goals and techniques to account for better problems. In this regard, it will be necessary for team members to work together to properly achieve their implemented goals (Hu & Tang, 2020).
References
Stout, R. J., Cannon-Bowers, J. A., & Salas, E. (2017). The role of shared mental models in developing team situational awareness: Implications for training. In Situational awareness (pp. 287-318). Routledge.
Hu, Z., & Tang, R. (2020). Effectiveness of Shared Mental Models on the Success of Multi-Institutional Collaboration to Deliver Online Learning Programs. Online Learning.