The effect of procrastination heterogeneity on team performance

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of procrastination heterogeneity on team performance. While researchers have investigated the causes and correlates of individual differences in procrastination, very few studies have paid attention to how to form teams considering procrastination heterogeneity among team members to maximize team performance. Further, such research has relied on subjective questionnaires as a measurement of individual procrastination and team performance. In this study, we collected data on the daily page views of two course websites. Course A included 38 individuals comprising 15 dyads or triads, while Course B included 55 individuals comprising 20 dyads or triads. We fitted the students' page hits per day to a deadline rush model that quantified individuals’ procrastination using an exponential function and employed a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to investigate the relationships among individual procrastination, procrastination heterogeneity in teams, and team performance. The results show that homogeneous teams of procrastination perform better than heterogeneous teams, regardless of whether the homogeneous teams are composed of high-procrastinated individuals or low-procrastinated individuals. Team variation in procrastination fully mediated the relationship between individual procrastination and team performance. The findings can be applied to team formation mechanisms used by organizations, including schools and industries, to maximize overall team performance.