Enhance Team Performance Research Articles

Do agile work practices impact team performance through project commitment? Evidence from the information technology industry

PurposeDrawing on goal-setting theory and team effectiveness theory, the study aims to examine the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance. In addition, it investigates the mediating effect of project commitment on the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance. Furthermore, the study also tests the moderating role of career level on the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 563 employees working in 290 information technology (IT) companies in India using a self-reporting structured questionnaire. Partial least squares path modeling was used to test the hypothesized model, and the Process macro was used to test the moderating effect.FindingsThe results show that agile taskwork and agile teamwork positively affect team performance and project commitment, and project commitment positively impacts team performance. Furthermore, project commitment fully mediates the relationship between agile taskwork and team performance and partially mediates the relationship between agile teamwork and team performance. Furthermore, the career level negatively moderates the impact of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance.Practical implicationsThe study shows the importance of agile work practices and project commitment to enhance team performance. Thus, the study provides managers with two strategies to improve their team performance.Originality/valueThere is a scarcity of research examining the distinct effects of agile taskwork and agile teamwork on team performance and the mediating role of project commitment in these relationships. Furthermore, as per the empirical evidence, no previous research has empirically examined the moderating role of career level in the agile taskwork-team performance and agile teamwork-team performance relationships.

Communication quality affects performance of astronauts and support teams through increased workload: Insights from the AMADEE-20 analog Mars mission

Astronaut crews and ground control support teams are highly interdependent teams that need to communicate effectively to achieve a safe mission - despite being separated by large distances. Team communication quality with its facets clarity of objectives and information flow, is a key coordination process to achieve high team performance and task satisfaction. Especially in interdependent teams working in extreme environments with time-delayed communications, the team's success is threatened if communication is ineffective. In this study, we hypothesized that communication quality affects two key team outcomes, performance and task satisfaction, and that these effects can be explained by increases in workload (effort and frustration). Hypotheses were tested during the AMADEE-20 analog Mars mission hosted by the Austrian Space Forum. The analog astronauts (AA) were supported by an On-Site-Support (OSS) team and a remote Mission-Support-Centre (MSC) team. The MSC was the only contact line for both AA and OSS, and the communication between them had a one-way time delay of 10 min. Our study consisted of three runs in which members across the three different multiteam systems had to exchange information to solve an interdependent task. We measured communication quality, effort and frustration, task satisfaction, and team performance. Results show that clarity of objectives and information flow positively impacted multiteam system performance. Furthermore, clarity of objectives reduced experienced effort and this in turn enhances team performance. High levels of information flow reduced experienced frustration, which in turn enhanced task satisfaction. Our findings show that these facets of communication quality are essential for multiteam systems that work separated from each other by a distance. We stress that specific (team) communication training for astronauts and support personnel will be key to effective teamwork during future Mars missions, and thus to overall mission success.

Critical Care Teamwork in the Future: The Role of TeamSTEPPS® in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Implications for the Future

At our institution, we observed inconsistency in the application of structural facilitators for interprofessional teamwork such as handoffs and communication of contingency planning, complete formation and engagement of teams on interprofessional rounds, regular situation monitoring, interprofessional huddles, use of "check back" during code situations, and standard debriefings after codes and procedures (TeamSTEPPS®). To enhance team performance, we piloted TeamSTEPPS® training and reinforcement for all healthcare team members in the medical intensive care unit (MICU), inclusive of trainees, advanced practice providers (APPs), nurses, and respiratory therapists rotating through the unit. Seven months after the training launch, the initial COVID-19 surge interrupted the reinforcement stage of the pilot providing an opportunity to study the retention of TeamSTEPPS® principles and its potential role in response to a crisis. We conducted interprofessional focus groups after a year of crisis management during the pandemic. Themes revealed how TeamSTEPPS® training impacted teamwork and communication, as well as factors that influenced the use of TeamSTEPPS®. This work points to the value of team training in unexpected scenarios. Additional studies at multiple sites are needed to determine scalability for all MICU teams or for onboarding new team members.

Mapping knowledge-sharing behavior through emotional intelligence and team culture toward optimized team performance

PurposeResearch unveiled that interdisciplinary health-care teams are often found to be ineffective because of deprived team mechanisms. Considering effective team functioning, a leader’s non-cognitive abilities, knowledge-sharing behavior and the role of culture remain central concerns of health-care teams. This study aims to investigate how a leader’s emotional intelligence (EI) in a prevailing team culture can nurture the sharing of knowledge and enhance team EI that influences team performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used multisource data representing a sample of 195 teams (735 respondents) to examine the hypothesized relationships by using the analytic strategy of partial least squares-structural equation modeling. This study bridged the methodological gap by using the repeated indicator approach that includes the reflective-formative second-order hierarchical latent variable model.FindingsThe results revealed a standpoint that leaders practicing the ability of EI influences team performance by understanding each other emotions in the leader–member relationship. Further, culture adds value and maps knowledge-sharing behavior which is tailored and beneficial for effective team outcomes.Practical implicationsThis study provides valuable inputs by articulating uniquely modeled variables for health-care teams confronting high work demands. This study highlights that leaders' EI can enhance understanding of the emotions of the team and can exchange information by harnessing knowledge-sharing behavior amongst professionals.Originality/valueThis study provides a novel contribution by integrating leaders’ EI, knowledge-sharing behavior, the role of culture and team performance in a single framework. The integrated theoretical model sheds light on team working in the health-care setting and advances the understanding of a leader’s EI and team culture through mapping knowledge sharing particularly being central to enhancing team performance.

Trust-based Performance Optimization for Human-Swarm Collaboration

This work develops a trust inference model to address scenarios where agents in a swarm collaborate to achieve the coverage control task. To gather empirical data from human subjects for the probabilistic model development, we build various simulation tools and user interfaces. Using our visual training tool, we train a single-agent model and then extend that to create our multi-agent model. These models utilize a dynamic Bayesian network and produce stochastic predictions. We then apply these models to our Voronoi-based area coverage problem in real time, where agents adjust their behavior to maximize the team performance and hence human trust. As a result of this research, multi-agent teams will be able to increase their individual trust levels thereby enhancing team performance and efficiency.

A Mediating and Moderating Analysis of the Relationship Between Team Emotional Intelligence and Team Performance

The study aims to examine the association between team emotional intelligence (EI) and team performance, particularly in construction projects, with a deliberate focus on identifying the factors that may foster or hinder team performance. To examine the hypothesized nexus of the model, dyadic data of 302 project employees and their site supervisors was collected, representing 53 teams in total. Organizations working on construction projects and relevant participants were selected through purposive sampling method. Findings of the study pronounce a positive association between team EI and team performance of engineers. Further, this study supports the mediating role of team trust between focal variables. Notably, task interdependence buffers the association between team EI and team performance. Coupled with the theoretical contribution, the study also offers valuable insights for managerial consideration, which may help them to maintain the workflow in construction projects and enhance team performance. Although EI constitutes essential resources for higher performance, prior research has not investigated whether and when team EI facilitates team performance, particularly in construction projects. We contributed to filling this gap by establishing the direct and indirect association between team EI and team performance via team trust. Moreover, the study also established task interdependence as a relevant moderator. In sum, the study at hand brings to the fore the dispositional and contextual antecedents that could potentially impact team performance, particularly in the construction project context.

Competencies supporting high-performance translational teams: A review of the SciTS evidence base.

A translational team (TT) is a specific type of interdisciplinary team that seeks to improve human health. Because high-performing TTs are critical to accomplishing CTSA goals, a greater understanding of how to promote TT performance is needed. Previous work by a CTSA Workgroup formulated a taxonomy of 5 interrelated team-emergent competency "domains" for successful translation: 1). affect, 2). communication, 3). management, 4). collaborative problem-solving, and 5). leadership. These Knowledge Skills and Attitudes (KSAs) develop within teams from the team's interactions. However, understanding how practice in these domains enhance team performance was unaddressed. To fill this gap, we conducted a scoping literature review of empirical team studies from the broader Science of Team Science literature domains. We identified specific team-emergent KSAs that enhance TT performance, mapped these to the earlier "domain" taxonomy, and developed a rubric for their assessment. This work identifies important areas of intersection of practices in specific competencies across other competency domains. We find that inclusive environment, openness to transdisciplinary knowledge sharing, and situational leadership are a core triad of team-emergent competencies that reinforce each other and are highly linked to team performance. Finally, we identify strategies for enhancing these competencies. This work provides a grounded approach for training interventions in the CTSA context.

The importance of shared cognitions of team member expertise when building a high-performing team

PurposeOrganizations are increasingly using team-based work structures to solve complex challenges and issues. Such teams require team members to have shared cognitions – a shared, accurate and complimentary understanding of team processes – to enhance team performance. The purpose of the current research is to explore the impact of shared cognitions on team processes and team performance.Design/methodology/approachThe current research focused on shared cognitions of teammate knowledge and expertise while working in a team environment. Using an experimental design with 20 teams collaborating on six problem-solving questions, the authors test hypotheses pertaining to the relationship between shared cognitions about team member expertise and team processes and team performance.FindingsAnalysis of variance finds that teams with a greater level of shared cognitions of team member expertise have enhanced team process and greater team performance than teams without shared cognitions.Originality/valueRecommendations are made for future research and practice based on such findings. The authors discuss ways in which the findings of this study can contribute to greater team process and performance in schools, organizations and athletic teams, noting the additional ability to apply such findings in virtual settings.

Linking Migration, Diversity and Regional Development in India

Diversity is important for cultural and economic factors. Diversity is an inclusive concept and has proven to enhance team performance, foster innovation and be better for overall economic factors. Migration is a continuing phenomenon in India, and each region possesses its own unique culture and skills. Migrants from different places of birth bring their own culture and specific skills which is beneficial for the regional human capital and economies. With the help of the fractionalisation index and panel regression models, the paper finds that diversity, as measured by migration by place of birth has a positive and significant relationship with the income growth of the states. This is consistent with a trend of increased migration to the industrialised or higher GDP states, such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The study shows that the diversity of people originating from different regions is beneficial for economic progress. This mobility and assimilation of people and cultures will positively affect a region and economy.

Innovative Macroergonomic Approaches: Responsibilities, Opportunities, and Challenges

Since the early 1980s, human factors professionals have leveraged macroergonomic approaches to build and design complex systems. Macroergonomics is of increasing relevance and interest to modern human factors experts working to address societal and organizational problems. New questions within existing domains necessitate development of new macroergonomic methods. Additionally, modern research needs drive the development of novel approaches in new domains. In this session, panelists will provide expert perspectives on the dynamic evolution of systems analysis, innovative implementation of participatory ergonomics programs, new hazard recognition approaches based on cognitive mnemonics, new applications of improvisation that enhance team performance, and a synthesized method seeking to elucidate micro to macro systems components. After each panelist has presented, we will then facilitate a discussion with the audience and panelists about the responsibilities and opportunities to derive human factors tools and methods that address the challenges and limitations of modern macroergonomics.

Enhancing Learning in Tourism Education by Combining Learning by Doing and Team Coaching

Learning by doing (LBD) and team coaching are experiential learning methods that can be used to enhance the depth of learning, motivation, and engagement in tourism education. This study explores the combined use of the two methodologies and reports on the experience of 42 students who participated in a practical case dealing with the strategic planning for sustainable tourism in a small town in Spain as a part of their undergraduate tourism education. The results obtained after the project evaluation confirm that LBD combined with team coaching is considered a valuable strategy for enhancing learning. Regarding the LBD method, students especially valued the opportunity to work within professional realities and exchange ideas with their classmates. Participants perceived team coaching as a valuable tool for enhancing team performance, communication, self-awareness (and that of others), conflict management, and problem-solving during project development. Professors and agents from public institutions involved in the project reported that students’ proposals were highly applicable and close to reality, and they agreed that the combination of LBD and team coaching improved the quality of the course assignments.

Flexibility-Oriented HRM and Team Performance: Mechanisms and Boundary Conditions

Integrating the strategic human resource management (HRM) and team effectiveness literature, we examine the effect of a strategically targeted HRM system, the flexibility-oriented HRM (FHRM) system, on knowledge team performance. We draw from the dynamic capabilities theory and the Input-Mediator-Outcome team effectiveness framework to posit that FHRM will foster the knowledge acquisition and productive energy of teams, which in turn enhance team performance. Further, this relationship is moderated by two team leader characteristics, i.e., territorial behavior and short-termism. We test these relationships using a three-wave, multi-source survey, and multilevel research methods. Results show that leader territorial behavior diminishes the indirect effect of coordination FHRM on team performance and that leader short-termism weakens the indirect effect of resource FHRM on team performance, both via the mediation of knowledge acquisition and productive energy.

The Beauty of Ambiguity: Implications of Leader Indirect Communication on Team Effectiveness

Communication is essential to leadership. Despite the benefits of a indirect communication style being broadly recognized in social psychology and political science literature, little is known about the impact of a leader’s indirect communication style at the workplace. The current research raises the questions of when and how leader indirect communication would exert positive influences on team-focused processes and effectiveness. Drawing on uncertainty reduction theory, we propose that for teams with higher team-member exchange quality, leader indirect communication is more likely to create team reflexivity, which in turn enhance team performance and team creativity. Using a multi-wave and multi-source survey from 87 teams, we find support for this hypothesized model. We discuss the theoretical implications of our findings, in particular regarding leader indirect communication as an emerging topic in leadership research.

Multilevel Analysis of the Effects of Experiential and Observational Learning on Team Performance

In spite of competing in an increasingly large number of tournaments, do e-Sports players have the ability to learn and improve on a continuous basis? This question is deeply connected with experiential learning theory because players could acquire experience through repetitive participation with diminishing marginal gains. Observational learning serves as a complementary learning mechanism, allowing players to utilize external sources of knowledge (or others) to accelerate their learning process. This study hence advances a dynamic and integrated research model that scrutinizes peer- and rival-based observational learning as moderators of the influences exerted by experiential learning on incremental absorptive capability and team performance. Analyzing data collected from 78,645 teams and 36,422 players involved in e-Sports games, we revealed that peer- and rival-based observational learning steepen the inverted U-shaped relationship between experiential learning and players’ incremental absorptive capability. In addition, peer-based observational learning flattens the U-shaped relationship between experiential learning and team performance, whereas rival-based observational learning steepens the U-shaped relationship between experiential learning and team performance. It is also found that a player’s incremental absorptive capability enhances team performance.

Game modelling and stability strategy research on distributed leadership pattern: A tripartite evolutionary game perspective.

Distributed leadership pattern has been a topic of growing interest in recent years, recognizing that much remains to be known about this phenomenon. The research on distributed leadership acknowledges that responsibility and power are not exclusively limited to one formal leader, but are distributed between formal and informal leaders. The decision-making behavior of team members plays a vital role in optimizing cooperation and team performance. Nevertheless, little attention is paid to investigating the underlying mechanisms about how people in a team cooperate to initiate effective interactions and enhance team performance. Game theory offers a comprehensive analysis of rational behavior under the circumstances of strategic interdependence. By organizing the formal leader, the informal leader, and the ordinary employee in a team, this study constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model and analyzes the internal mechanism of distributed leadership patterns. The study finds that the equilibrium of the three parties is affected by multiple factors. The simulation results reveal that the empowerment of the formal leader to the informal leader is indispensable to promoting optimal cooperation and team performance in distributed leadership patterns. These findings have theoretical implications for the distributed leadership literature and managerial implications for practitioners.

How shared leadership affects team performance: examining sequential mediation model using MASEM

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to reveal a sequential mediating process of the impact of shared leadership on team performance by studying the sequential mediating effect of team trust and team learning behavior.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops and examines a sequential mediation model using the meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) method. The sample adopted consists of 347 independent effect sizes extracted from 280 empirical papers (288 independent studies, N = 21,888 groups).FindingsThe results indicate that team trust and team learning behavior play a sequential mediating effect in the shared leadership–team performance relationship.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that practitioners should share leadership functions and responsibilities among talented team members. Furthermore, practitioners should strengthen the emotional interaction among team members and give positive feedback to the team's intensive learning behaviors.Originality/valueBy identifying the sequential mediating effect of team trust and team learning behavior, this study not only advances the understandings of a comprehensive mediating process through which shared leadership enhances team performance, but also offers new insights into the interrelationship of different types of mediating mechanisms (i.e. team emergent state and team process) in the shared leadership–team performance relationship.

The Mediating Effect of Knowledge Sharing on Emotional Intelligence and Team Performance: An Empirical Study in Vietnam

This article presents the findings of a study which tested the relationship between emotional intelligence, knowledge sharing, and team performance. Further, the study determined the influence of emotional intelligence and knowledge sharing on team performance. Although these interrelations are very important for enhancing team performance, few empirical studies analyze these relationships together. This paper examined those relationships using SEM with data from 357 employees of SMEs located in Vietnam. The results indicated that emotional intelligence indirectly enhances team performance through knowledge sharing. Besides, knowledge sharing effects directly on team performance. On the other hand, there is a positive association exists between emotional intelligence and knowledge sharing. Findings, implications and recommendation for future research from this study are discussed. Keywords: Emotional intelligence, Knowledge sharing, Team performance, Vietnam DOI: 10.7176/IKM/12-4-04 Publication date: June 30 th 2022

Leader subjective ambivalence: Enabling team task performance via information‐seeking processes

AbstractIn this article, we investigate the effects of leader subjective ambivalence on team performance. Integrating the ambivalence literature and social learning theory, we propose a multi‐level model of whether, when, and why team leaders’ subjective ambivalence enhances team performance outcomes. The results of two laboratory experiments (Studies 1 and 2) demonstrate initial support for the relationship between leader subjective ambivalence and information‐seeking behaviors. The results of a longitudinal field study (Study 3) based on 164 projects (164 leaders and 725 subordinates) show that leader subjective ambivalence has a positive indirect effect on team task performance first through leader information‐seeking behaviors and later through team information‐seeking behaviors. Our results further indicate that project complexity is a boundary condition for the proposed conditional indirect effect of leader subjective ambivalence on team performance outcomes. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Setting the Stage for Success: How Participation Diversity Can Help Teams Leverage Racioethnic Diversity

Though we know racioethnic diversity can impact team functioning, much remains unclear about when and how it affects performance. Extending dyadic theory on interracial interactions, we develop and test predictions about how participation diversity (i.e., the distribution of team member temporal involvement in task functions) influences the racioethnic diversity–performance relationship. We theorize that racioethnic diversity is motivational, prompting self-enhancement goals that are best achieved via cooperation, but are impeded by anxiety that often accompanies racioethnic dissimilarity. Heightened participation diversity provides structure (by clarifying behavioral scripts) that should reduce interracial anxiety, thereby resulting in positive effects of racioethnic diversity on performance through cooperation. Such performance benefits of racioethnic diversity are lower in likelihood in less structured interracial, work-related encounters. Results from a field study and two archival datasets indicated that when there are more clearly differentiated temporal roles, greater racioethnic diversity corresponded with higher performance. Cooperation helped to account for this relationship, as greater differentiation facilitated the positive effect of racioethnic diversity on cooperation, thereby enhancing team performance. This relationship is significantly smaller or nonsignificant when participation diversity is lower. Collectively, our theory and results help to reconcile prior inconsistent effects of racioethnic diversity on team performance.

The role of simulation-based training to improve team performance in implementing one-hour sepsis bundle: a randomized trial

Background: Excellent team performance is one of the keys in managing patients with sepsis successfully. Simulation-based training with high fidelity manikin (HFM) is one of the many ways to enhance team performance. This study aims to compare the role of simulation-based training with HFM with conventional method to improve team performance in conducting one-hour sepsis bundle.
 Methodology: This randomized single-blind study was conducted on 16 doctors and 24 nurses in intensive care unit. Subjects were divided randomly into two groups, the simulation group and the discussion group. Simulation group received simulation training with HFM in conducting one-hour sepsis bundle in sepsis patients, while conventional group received case-based oral discussion with their tutor. The training was rounded off by a case simulation exam using HFM for both groups. The team performance consisted of clinical skills and communication skills evaluated through a validated assessment tool. Skills being assessed included initial assessment, diagnosing sepsis with SOFA and conducting one-hour sepsis bundle.
 Results: The simulation group with high fidelity manikin completed the one-hour sepsis bundle better than the conventional group (p = 0.022). Particularly in collecting venous blood samples (p = 0.027) and blood culture samples (p = 0.011), along with giving the correct intravenous fluid replacement, tailored for each scenario (p = 0.027). Communication aspect was not significantly different in both groups.
 Conclusion. Team performance in implementing one-hour sepsis bundle is better in the simulation group trained with high fidelity manikin as compared to conventional training group, who received case-based oral discussion.
 Abbreviations: HFM - high fidelity manikin; ICU - Intensive Care Unit; SOFA - Sequential Organ Failure Assessment
 Key words: Simulation-based training; One-hour sepsis bundle; Intensive care unit; Medical education; Interprofessional training
 Citation: Sugiarto A, Tantri AR, Manggala SK, Peddyandhari FS, Auerkari AN, Fabiola T, Swannjo JP, Anakotta V, Theresia S. The role of simulation-based training to improve team performance in implementing one-hour sepsis bundle: a randomized trial. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2022;26(3):463-468; DOI: 10.35975/apic.v26i4.1954
 Received: November 08, 2021; Reviewed: May 03, 2022; Accepted: 31 May 2022