Team leader communication in ad hoc teams and its impact on team outcomes: a systematic review

Abstract Background Ad hoc teams often work on acute medical problems in intense and unpredictable situations. Team leadership is important for effective teamwork, and communication in ad hoc teams is especially vulnerable to errors and may impact patient outcomes. Previous review studies have mainly focused on team leadership styles. However, little is known about team leader communication in ad hoc teams and whether it impacts team outcomes. Thus, the aim of this review was to investigate whether team leader communication in ad hoc teams impacts team outcomes. Methods A systematic review was conducted with database searches on CINAHL, Medline and Embase in May 2023, with an update in February 2024. Eight studies identified from the search were included in the review, and the results are presented as a narrative synthesis. Results The eight studies that met our inclusion criteria had an observational quantitative design and all of them were conducted in the context of emergency departments or intensive care units (five from a simulation context and three from a real life context). Team leader communication was measured using validated instruments or behavioural indicators, such as call-outs and closed loops. The results revealed that team leader communication had a significant impact on team performance, measured as technical work performance and non-technical work performance, in all the included studies. The team leaders’ use of communication strategies, such as situational awareness, callouts and closed loop communication, positively impacted team performance. Conclusions The results of this systematic review indicate that team leaders in ad hoc teams have a significant impact on overall team performance. These results underscore the importance of competence in team leadership and highlight the importance of incorporating team leader training into team training programmes. Further studies using more homogenous measuring methods for both team leader communication and outcome variables are needed to confirm the results of this review. The findings in this review may contribute to an enhanced emphasis on the training of team leaders in intense, unpredictable situations, such as in ad hoc teams. Trial registration PROSPERO: CRD42023430082.