The increasing number of robots around us will soon create a demand for connecting these robots in order to achieve goal-driven teamwork in heterogeneous multi-robot systems. In this paper, we focus on robot teamwork specifically in dynamic environments. While the conceptual modeling of multi-agent teamwork has been studied extensively during the last two decades, related engineering concerns have not received the same degree of attention. Therefore, this paper makes two contributions. The analysis part discusses general design challenges that apply to robot teamwork in dynamic application domains. The constructive part presents a review of existing engineering approaches for challenges that arise with dynamically changing runtime conditions. An exhaustive survey of robot teamwork aspects would be beyond the scope of this paper. Instead, we aim at creating awareness for the manifold dimensions of the design space and highlight state-of-the-art technical solutions for dynamically adaptive teamwork, thus pointing at open research questions that need to be tackled in future work.

Urban design is a complex problem-solving activity that commonly requires the aid of a variety of methods to support the process and enhance the quality of the outcomes. How to help designers with adequate methods to deal with ill-defined urban problems constitutes a major challenge in the urban design domain. In this regard, the use of urban design patterns is considered as a method that can contribute to urban design problem-solving. However, this tool was never investigated to understand its role in the task-related activities that take place during the design process by designers working in team, and its effect on the creativity of the final design outcome as perceived by urban designers and students. Therefore, an empirical research based on a controlled experiment was carried out to explore the aid provided by design patterns during the conceptual stages of the process. The study contributed to gain a better insight into the main design activities derived from the use of patterns as problem-solving tools, and to unveil their contribution to urban design. Implications for design practice and design education are discussed.

Understanding the dynamics of teamwork and communication among healthcare professionals is crucial in the face of evolving healthcare challenges. This study assessed relational coordination among healthcare professionals in the South Tyrolean healthcare system in Italy, focusing on communication and teamwork dynamics in a cross-sectional survey. Using the validated Relational Coordination Survey (RCS) instrument and 525 completed online responses, the questionnaire aimed to understand the implications of different levels of relational coordination ratings by general practitioners, hospital physicians, nurses, and administrative personnel (response rate 26%). The demographics of the participants revealed a predominance of female professionals (64%), with an average age of 50 and 18 years of service. The resulting RCS scores varied significantly across professional groups, with nurses reporting the highest within-group scores, indicating moderate coordination, and administrators reporting the lowest scores, reflecting areas of weak coordination. Between-group relational coordination was generally perceived as weak across professional groups, with the least weakness observed between general practitioners and nurses. German or Italian language and health district affiliation emerged as significant factors influencing relational coordination ratings, highlighting the need for differentiated understanding and strategies in multilingual and diverse regional settings. Assessments of interdisciplinary feedback and referral practices highlight the variation in teamwork and communication weaknesses and underscore the need for targeted interventions to improve relational coordination. This study provides insights into the complexity of relational dynamics in health care settings. It suggests that improving relational coordination through tailored strategies could significantly improve team effectiveness, quality of patient care, and overall system efficiency.

Well-being is one of the pillars of positive psychology, which is known to have positive effects not only on the personal and professional lives of individuals, but also on teams and organizations. Understanding and promoting individual well-being is essential for staff health and long-term success, but current tools for assessing subjective well-being rely on time-consuming surveys and questionnaires, which limit the possibility of providing the real-time feedback needed to raise awareness and change individual behavior. This paper proposes a framework for understanding the process of non-verbal communication in teamwork, using video data to identify significant predictors of individual well-being in teamwork. It relies on video acquisition technologies and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence tools to extract individual, relative, and environmental characteristics from panoramic video. Statistical analysis is applied to each time series, leading to the generation of a dataset of 125 features, which are then linked to PERMA (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments) surveys developed in the context of positive psychology. Each pillar of the PERMA model is evaluated as a regression or classification problem using machine learning algorithms. Our approach was applied to a case study, where 80 students collaborated in 20 teams for a week on a team task in a face-to-face setting. This enabled us to formulate several hypotheses identifying factors influencing individual well-being in teamwork. These promising results point to interesting avenues for research, for instance fusing different media for the analysis of individual well-being in teamwork.

This article investigates the prospect of implementing multidisciplinary and multicultural student teamwork (MMT) involving Case-based Learning (CBL) and Problem-based Learning (PBL) as a sustainable teaching practice. Based on a mixed methods approach, which includes direct observation (both physical and virtual), questionnaire distribution and focus-group interviews the study reveals that MMT through CBL and PBL can both facilitate and hinder sustainable learning. Our findings show that while MMT enhances knowledge sharing, it also poses a wide range of challenges, raising questions about its social significance as a sustainable teaching practice. The study suggests the implementation of certain mechanisms, such as ‘Teamwork Training’ and ‘Pedagogical Mentors’, aiming to strengthen the sustainable orientation of MMT through CBL and PBL.

Job satisfaction has a strong impact on the intention to stay which is an important aspect to counter skills shortage in academic medicine. In an interview study combining qualitative and quantitative methods we investigated how the mental representation of working conditions influences job satisfaction and its impact on the intention to stay. In a first study chief physicians participated in interviews about job satisfaction in academic hospitals. Answers were segmented into statements, ordered by topics and rated according to their valence. In a second study assistant physicians (residents) during and after their training period talked about strength, weaknesses and potential improvements of working conditions. Again, answers were segmented, ordered, rated and used to develop a ‘job satisfaction scale’. In a third study, assistant physicians participated in a computer-led repertory grid procedure composing ‘mental maps’ of job satisfaction factors, filled in the job satisfaction scale and rated if they would recommend work and training in their clinic as well as their intention to stay. Comparing the interview results with recommendation rates and intention to stay show that a negative attitude is linked to high workload and poor career perspectives. A positive attitude towards work environment and high intention to stay are linked to sufficient personnel and technical capacities, reliable duty scheduling and fair salaries. The third study using repertory grids showed that the perception of current teamwork and future developments concerning work environment were the main aspects to improve job satisfaction and the intention to stay. The results of the interview studies were used to develop an array of adaptive improvement measure. The results support prior findings that job dissatisfaction is mostly based on generally known “hygiene factors” and whereas job satisfaction is due to individual aspects.

The present paper brings to the fore issues relating to the meaning and construction of ethics in online team communication by exploring the discursive strategies that contribute to the construction of a team’s sense of duty and individual virtuousness. The study relies on a complex toolkit which includes ethnolinguistics, sociolinguistics, discourse and conversation analysis. Data consist in a one-day interaction unit as part of a larger set of real communication exchanges (ca. 34,000) over a time period of six months, observation notes, as well as unstructured interviews. Our empirical analysis has revealed that individual virtuousness and sense of duty are actually interrelated. A virtuous team climate leads team members to share positive perceptions about the team, which in turn increases team commitment. Furthermore, we argue that the blurring of private and professional life not only allows for the enactment of ethic-driven discourse strategies that result in enhanced cooperation and improved team performance but also for high levels of interconnectivity and improved social interaction. The results of the analysis supplement organisational literature based on ethics-centred observations on the effectiveness of virtual work, and show how a discourse-driven approach can provide tools for further theorisations about the practices and the ecology of digital communication.

Introduction: Intimate partner violence occurring during pregnancy has a similar prevalence as usual obstetrical disorders routinely screened for. Referenced publications insist on the importance of adequate screening but the proper course of action has yet to be defined. Aim of study: We qualitatively explored the different resources and concepts that emerge from the discourse of maternity staff across professions. Material and methods: We led a semi structured interview with professionals included following their involvement with preselected patients. Nine professionals provided a sample of 19 interviews. The data was analysed using IPA methodology. Results We highlight the investigative importance of navigating the patient’s initial demand or lack thereof and the baby’s importance within, mindful of mechanisms of maternal disqualification. Creating an atmosphere prone to patient empowerment was the final theme to emerge from the study as the most beneficial tactic both in the short and long term. Conclusion: HCPs need to enable patients’ trust on a personal and an institutional level. As well as empowering the patient in the moment and respecting their values and choices, HCPs also convey the stability of the institution that has to become a reference of refuge and assistance for patients from their pregnancy onwards.