Focused Attention of Members in Multiple Team Membership: A Diary study

Abstract

As organizational tasks are increasingly carried out through temporary projects, many knowledge workers are now asked to work in multiple concurrent teams and collaborations. Although focused attention is critical in performing complex tasks, individuals’ attention is inevitably divided by having to work for multiple teams, and little is known about individuals’ attention allocation processes in such a context. To fill this gap, I start by reviewing previous literature on attention and propose an empirical study that examines the antecedents and consequences of one’s day-to-day focus on teams using a diary study. Based on the cognitive psychology literature, I explore a multilevel model consisting of bottom-up (salience of a team at the moment) and top-down (one’s perceived importance of a team) factors that influence attention allocation to teams, and the consequences of attention allocation (job strain and work satisfaction). In so doing, I suggest a member-centered perspective of teams using attention as a mechanism, and I explain how individuals navigate through their work in multiple teams.