Examining team planning through an episodic lens: Effects of deliberate, contingency, and reactive planning on team effectiveness

Three types of team planning processes differing in terms of timing and adaptation capacity are investigated. Deliberate planning and contingency planning occur during team transition phases; deliberate planning specifies a primary course of action whereas contingency planning specifies backup plans. Reactive adjustment is planning that occurs during the action phase when teams adapt plans to account for evolving task conditions. The current study uses data from a scavenger hunt game involving a total of 38 teams randomly assigned to preplanning or control conditions. While instructing teams to plan increased deliberate planning, it does not increase the adaptation-enabling processes of contingency planning and reactive adjustment. Team effectiveness is determined most strongly by reactive adjustment, then by contingency planning, and least so by deliberate planning.