Effects of membership change on open discussion and team performance: The moderating role of team tenure

Abstract

This study identified temporal conditions when membership change may enhance or diminish team functioning. Using a longitudinal repeated measures design surveying 41 R&D teams, this study examined whether team tenure moderated the relationship of membership change with open discussion and team performance. The results illustrated that increasing membership change was positively associated with both open discussion and team performance for newly formed teams, whereas this association was negative for long-serving teams. Thus, what matters is not so much whether a team's membership changes but rather whether the team's longevity supports or impedes adaptation to personnel changes.