A socio-cognitive approach to leading a learning project team: A proposed model and scale development

Abstract

This article proposes a theoretical model and measurement scale for leading a learning project team. While leadership is largely recognized as one of the most important mechanisms for transferring learning from individuals to projects, there lacks a succinct measurement scale for project members to report on project leaders’ behaviors that promote collective learning in projects. Drawing from rich theories on multilevel learning, socio-cognitive conflicts, and leading diversity, we develop a measurement scale that captures project members’ experiences of how their leaders (a) support the identification and communication of project members’ individual mental models, (b) support the resolution of differences in mental models among project team members, and (c) create opportunities and time for team members to interact with others outside the project team. Collectively, these three dimensions form a new scale for leading a learning project team. We cautiously conclude sound psychometric measurement properties from an initial sample of 94 valid responses to a questionnaire distributed to project members through international professional project management networks. This study highlights the multi-level nature of leading a learning project team and provides tentative empirical support for the reflective three-dimensional scale predicting learning in project teams better than transformational leadership.