Effective team performance in dynamic, high-consequence environments requires an interdisciplinary integration of human interactions with technological systems components. Several systems analysis approaches have substantial applications to the study of team communication and performance. This paper examines cybernetics and sociotechnical approaches to information exchange and coordination in human-technology systems. One component of cybernetics, based on quantitative feedback control engineering tools, can be effectively integrated with group communication and coordination principles from sociotechnical research. The author suggests ways in which these systems frameworks can be utilized and consolidated to support a more harmonious and quantitatively grounded examination of human performance in complex systems.
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