Soft Skills for Hard Missions: Ethnographic Insights of Mars 2020 Space Operation Team Dynamics

Thomas Chan; So Young Kim; Basak Ramaswamy; Jeremy Argueta; Ana Patino; Alexandria Christoforatos

doi:10.65351/hsi24.024

Abstract

The Mars 2020 mission, characterized by its complex science and technological objectives and rapid decision-making requirements – presents a unique context for examining effective team collaboration across multiple disciplines. Conducted at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the current ethnographic study spanned five Martian days (SOLs), focusing on the team decision-making processes among science, engineering, and space operation teams. Building on previous findings from the Mars Science Laboratory study, we delve deeper into the soft skills that facilitate deliberation among teams with varying technical expertise and agendas. Through systematic observation and coding of verbal exchanges, we identify key soft skills that enhance team efficiency and decision-making. Our findings reveal four overarching soft skill functions: Corporate Knowledge Gluers, Bridge Builders, Efficiency Optimizers, and Vibe Dispatchers. Together, these skills filled in knowledge gaps, fostered shared understanding, streamlined processes, and built trust and empathy in multidisciplinary teams. The study proposes a refined soft skills framework, applicable not only to space missions but also to other technically demanding and collaborative work environments. This framework serves as a guide for team design, emphasizing the integration of soft skills alongside technical competencies. Our results underscore the Gestalt of technical and interpersonal skills in achieving successful outcomes in complex science and engineering projects.

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Citation

BibTeX citation:

@inproceedings{chan2024,
  author = {Chan, Thomas and Young Kim, So and Ramaswamy, Basak and
    Argueta, Jeremy and Patino, Ana and Christoforatos, Alexandria},
  editor = {Masson, Dimitri},
  publisher = {INCOSE},
  title = {Soft {Skills} for {Hard} {Missions:} {Ethnographic}
    {Insights} of {Mars} 2020 {Space} {Operation} {Team} {Dynamics}},
  booktitle = {Proceedings International Conference on Human Systems
    Integration},
  volume = {3},
  date = {2024-08-29},
  url = {https://hsi-wg.github.io/conferences/HSI2024/proceedings/soft-skills-for-hard-missions-ethnographic-insights-of-mars-2020-space-operation-team-dynamics.html},
  doi = {10.65351/hsi24.024},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {The Mars 2020 mission, characterized by its complex
    science and technological objectives and rapid decision-making
    requirements – presents a unique context for examining effective
    team collaboration across multiple disciplines. Conducted at the
    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the current ethnographic study
    spanned five Martian days (SOLs), focusing on the team
    decision-making processes among science, engineering, and space
    operation teams. Building on previous findings from the Mars Science
    Laboratory study, we delve deeper into the soft skills that
    facilitate deliberation among teams with varying technical expertise
    and agendas. Through systematic observation and coding of verbal
    exchanges, we identify key soft skills that enhance team efficiency
    and decision-making. Our findings reveal four overarching soft skill
    functions: Corporate Knowledge Gluers, Bridge Builders, Efficiency
    Optimizers, and Vibe Dispatchers. Together, these skills filled in
    knowledge gaps, fostered shared understanding, streamlined
    processes, and built trust and empathy in multidisciplinary teams.
    The study proposes a refined soft skills framework, applicable not
    only to space missions but also to other technically demanding and
    collaborative work environments. This framework serves as a guide
    for team design, emphasizing the integration of soft skills
    alongside technical competencies. Our results underscore the Gestalt
    of technical and interpersonal skills in achieving successful
    outcomes in complex science and engineering projects.}
}

For attribution, please cite this work as:

Chan, Thomas, So Young Kim, Basak Ramaswamy, Jeremy Argueta, Ana Patino, and Alexandria Christoforatos. 2024. “Soft Skills for Hard Missions: Ethnographic Insights of Mars 2020 Space Operation Team Dynamics.” In Proceedings International Conference on Human Systems Integration, edited by Dimitri Masson. Vol. 3. INCOSE. https://doi.org/10.65351/hsi24.024.