The Influence of Communication, Trust, and Shared Goal Orientation on Students' Teamwork Effectiveness in a Turbulent Environment

In order to create social systems that deal with complex issues with multiple systems and multiple people, cooperation and coordination within and between multiple systems require the integration of social cooperation mechanisms. This paper highlights the influences of communication, trust, and shared goal orientation on the effectiveness of students’ teamwork during teamwork training in higher education. A quantitative cross-sectional data explanatory approach was used, and data collected from 111 students through survey questionnaires were analyzed through multiple regression. The study showed that trust and communication positively impacted the effectiveness of teamwork, but goal orientation played a positive but statistically insubstantial role. This suggests that the effectiveness of teamwork chiefly relies on the quality of inter-member communication and the level of trust between the members. In mutual trust and the psychological safety of members, the crucial collaboration elements are confidence and learning. This study highlights the need for integration of emotional and rational components within the interdisciplinary teamwork process. It offers additional value to educators in the design of experiential learning activities. Students are expected to strengthen and build their professional communication, cooperation, and trust systems to work collaboratively in the professional world of social turbulence.