Time pressure, potency, and progress in project groups

Abstract

Many project groups have a hard time meeting their deadlines. This research addresses this issue by studying group perceptions and group self-regulatory actions that may impede or foster the timeliness of group projects. Longitudinal data were collected from 22 student project groups developing a business solution in a field assignment. Using a questionnaire, we measured perceived time pressure, group potency, planning, and reflexivity, as well as the project's progress at three points during the 13-week working period: at the start of the project, just after the orientation phase, and finally after the execution phase and the project deadline. Our findings suggest that the effect of time pressure on progress is moderated by group potency. Furthermore, there were differential effects of planning and reflexivity in the orientation phase and the execution phase. Execution planning and reflexivity did not appear to be very useful for progress in the orientation phase of the project. However, in the execution phase, both planning and reflexivity contributed to meeting the deadline.