Team Task Performance Research Articles

Are There Differences in the Effects of P-O and P-T Cultural Fits on Work Attitudes and Task Performance? The Moderating Effect of Supportive Leadership

Organizational culture and individual employees’ fit with it have been found to be important factors affecting sustainable management. However, the effects of person–team cultural fit (P-T cultural fit) has not been much studied regarding its differential effects compared to other types of person–environment fit (P-E fit). The present study examined how person–organizational cultural fit (P-O cultural fit) and P-T cultural fit have a differential impact on work attitudes and task performance and investigated the moderating role of a team leader’s supportive leadership. Using longitudinal data collected from 1539 employees, the results show that P-O cultural fit and P-T cultural fit had a significant positive relationship with organizational commitment, while P-T cultural fit also showed a significant positive relationship with team commitment and task performance. In addition, supportive leadership had significant moderating and enhancing effects on the impact of P-T cultural fit on both organizational and team commitment. As the most proximal unit of individuals’ work environment, the congruence between individual and team values plays a crucial role in improving individuals’ attitudes and task performance. Our results thus yield practical implications on the importance of team cultural management in the context of sustainable management.

Tensions Between Diversity and Shared Leadership: The Role of Team Political Skill

Maintaining workplace diversity is an important legal and ethical issue in modern organizations. However, demographic heterogeneity might discourage the development of shared leadership in work teams as individuals are inherently not inclined to share leadership roles with dissimilar others. The present study is designed to investigate how political skill assists team members to overcome interpersonal dissimilarities and become engaged in mutual influence with their peers. By studying 63 student project teams using multiwave, multisource surveys, we find that team demographic faultlines on gender and race are negatively associated with shared leadership magnitude and therefore discourage team task performance. However, such destructive direct (on shared leadership magnitude) and indirect (on team performance) effects of team demographic faultlines can be mitigated when the team is staffed with many politically skilled members. Our findings bring important implications for organizations in building and encouraging shared leadership, especially in newly formed professional work teams.

Antecedents and Consequences of Creativity in Teams: When and How Leader Humility Promotes Performance via Team Creativity

AbstractThe antecedents of team creativity and their effects on team task performance are explored in this study, with a particular focus on how leader humility promotes team creativity and when team creativity can be converted into performance. Hypotheses were tested via a multiple‐source and time‐lagged study with 341 employees and 104 teams from five different organizations in China. The results showed that leader humility promotes team creativity through team creative efficacy, and leader conscientiousness moderates this indirect effect. Furthermore, team creativity is more positively related to team task performance when teams are more future oriented. The theoretical contributions and management significance of these findings are discussed, followed by a discussion of limitations and directions for future research.

Meeting the need or falling in line? The effect of laissez‐faire formal leaders on informal leadership

AbstractWe consider the utility of two contrasting theoretical perspectives in explaining how laissez‐faire formal leaders and team member motivation to lead (MTL) influences informal leadership and team task performance. The first perspective, functional leadership theory, is the dominant lens used currently to understand informal leadership. However, we suggest that social learning theory offers a compelling alternative account. In a multiwave survey study of 344 members of 72 work teams, we find support for the social learning theory predictions that laissez‐faire formal leaders are perceived by team members to engage in less modeling of effective leadership and as a result are negatively associated with informal leadership and team task performance. We do not find support for the functional leadership theory predictions that laissez‐faire formal leaders are positively associated with team members’ informal leadership and team task performance, which would be due to an increased perceived need for leadership. The social learning effects are stronger for teams that are lower in member MTL and weaker for teams that are higher in member MTL. These results suggest social learning theory may be preferable to functional leadership theory for understanding informal leadership in teams.

Positive Practices in the Workplace: Impact on Team Climate, Work Engagement, and Task Performance

Positivity in organizations accentuates that which is flourishing and life-giving to discover and promote the best of the human condition, exemplified in the recent focus on positive practices, behaviors that enhance positive affect in employees and lead to organizational performance. A quantitative study of positivity in a team-based food service context elucidated significant relationships between positive practices, social climate, work engagement, and task performance. Finer delineation of positive practices demonstrated the importance of team members discovering meaning in their work through mutual interaction that promotes trust, respect, and confidence, with employees believing the best in one another and inspiring one another in their performance. The findings suggest that in an intensive service climate positivity can foster team member engagement and performance through prosocial actions that demonstrate appreciation, affirmation, and respect, thus promoting greater meaningfulness in work.

The multilevel nomological net of team conflict profiles

PurposeThis paper aims to offer an integrative conceptual theory of conflict and reports on the nomological net of team conflict profiles. Specifically, it integrates social self-preservation theory with information-processing theory to better understand the occurrence of team profiles involving task conflict, relationship conflict and process conflict.Design/methodology/approachThe study collected data from 178 teams performing and engineering design tasks. The multilevel nomological net that was examined consisted of constructive controversy, psychological safety and team-task performance (team level), as well as perceptions of learning, burnout and peer ratings of performance (individual level).FindingsFindings indicated mixed support for the associations between conflict profiles and the hypothesized nomological net.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should consider teams’ profiles of team conflict types rather than examining task, relationship and process conflict in isolation.Practical implicationsTeams can be classified into profiles of team conflict types with implications for team functioning and effectiveness. As a result, assessment and team launch should consider team conflict profiles.Originality/valueThe complexity perspective advanced here will allow research on conflict types to move forward beyond the extensive research examining conflict types in isolation rather than their interplay.

Justice Climates and Management Team Effectiveness: The Central Role of Group Harmony

ABSTRACTAlthough social harmony is one of the most important cultural values in many of Asian societies it has rarely been studied in the mainstream management literatures. Based on the group-value theory of justice we examined how group justice climates influence group effectiveness through group harmony. Analyses of data on 106 upper-level management teams from Chinese organizations showed that justice climates were positively associated with group harmony, which in turn was positively associated with team task performance and team helping behavior. Group harmony was found to significantly mediate the positive effect of both distributive and interactional justice climates on team helping behavior but only marginally on team task performance. Finally, in support of past research both at the group and individual level, procedural justice climate had the weakest effect on group processes and outcomes. By applying the group value theory on group harmony this paper aims to integrate Eastern and Western perspectives on one hand and the justice climates and group harmony research on the other. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The relationship between task conflict, relationship conflict, team efficacy and task performance of Air Force Combat Flight Team

The purpose of the present study was to investigate integrally the relationships among task conflict, relationship conflict, team efficacy, and task performance of the Air Force Combat Flight Team. Also, the study illustrated whether participative decision-making moderated the relationship between task conflict and team efficacy, and the relationship between relationship conflict and team efficacy. Surveys and supervisor-rating performance data of 284 combat flight teams of two Air Force fighter pilots were collected for assessing the aforementioned relationships. Analyzing through structural equation modeling, the results indicated that task conflict was negatively related to team efficacy and task performance. Relationship conflict was negatively related to team efficacy whereas they were positively related with task performance. Moreover, team efficacy mediated the relationship between task conflict and task performance, and the relationship between relationship conflict and task performance. Furthermore, participative decision-making moderated the relationships of task conflict and relationship conflict with team efficacy such that these negative relationships were stronger when wingman pilot’s perception toward leader pilot’s participative decision-making was low. We discuss the implications of these results, study limitations, and practical suggestions for future research.

The servant leadership advantage: When perceiving low differentiation in leader-member relationship quality influences team cohesion, team task performance and service OCB

How does servant leaders' unique ability to place each follower's needs above their own influence relationships between followers and impact their collective performance? In a study that integrates principles of servant leadership with the social comparison theoretical framework, we tested a group-level model to examine how servant leadership induces low perceived differentiation in leader-member relationship quality (perceived LMX differentiation) within a group, which strengthens team cohesion and in turn positively influences team task performance and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (service OCB). Our sample comprised 229 employees nested in 67 work teams. Structural equation modeling results indicate that servant leadership significantly predicts low perceived LMX differentiation; perceived LMX differentiation is strongly related to team cohesion such that the lower the perceived differentiation, the stronger the team's cohesiveness. And, team cohesion is also strongly related to both the team's task performance and service OCB. Perceived LMX differentiation and team cohesion mediate the effect of servant leadership on both team task performance and service OCB.

The impact of task characteristics on the performance of nursing teams

PurposeThis study sought to examine the relationship between team task features and team task performance. Team task performance revolved around the team's technical knowledge and the technical core activities of the organization. On the other hand, team task characteristics include task identity, task significance, and task interdependence. MethodsThis study involved a total of 300 nursing teams (1436 individual nurses) from seven state hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia. Data were collected using two sets of questionnaires which were initially distributed to 320 teams. One set was given to the team members and another set was given to the team leaders. Of the 320 sets sent out, 300 sets were returned. Responses were then combined and aggregated to the team level to get the team's final score. Analyses of the hypotheses were done using Partial Least Squares (PLS) through assessment of the measurement and structural model. ResultsResults from the path analysis revealed that of the three dimensions of team task attributes, only task significance was positively and significantly related to team task performance (β = 0.076, P > 0.05), while task identity (β = 0.076, P > 0.05) and task interdependence (β = −0.037, P > 0.05) were found unrelated to team task performance. ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that task significance is important to predict team task performance. Task significance reflects meaningfulness and nobility of tasks, thus elevate the desire to perform better in each assigned task.

Enabling team learning when members are prone to contentious communication: The role of team leader coaching

Members of teams are often prone to interpersonal communication patterns that can undermine the team’s capacity to engage in self-learning processes that are critical to team adaptation and performance improvement. We argue that team leader coaching behaviors are critical to ensuring that team discussions that may foster learning new teamwork skills and strategies are unfettered by the tendency of two or more members to exhibit contentious interpersonal communications. We accordingly test a model in which team contentious communication moderates the mediated relationship of team leader coaching behaviors on team innovation effectiveness and team task performance. In a study of 82 work teams, team leader coaching behaviors exhibited indirect, positive relationships with both team innovation effectiveness and team task performance through team learning, but only among teams with an average or higher level of contentious interpersonal communication. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for the leadership of teams.

Running on Empty: The Effects of Aggregate Travel Stress on Team Performance

In this study, we explore the effects of travel on performance at the team level using conservation of resources (COR) theory as an explanatory mechanism. We investigate the effects of aggregate travel stress, which we define as the accumulated strain experienced by a team when traveling, on key components of team functioning and performance including team task performance, team concentration level, and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB). We analyze 3054 games played in the National Football League across six seasons using multilevel structural equation modeling. Replicating our findings, we also analyzed an additional 11,802 games played in the National Basketball Association across five seasons. Aggregate travel stress, as a latent construct, negatively impacts team task performance and team concentration level. Team concentration partially mediates the relationship between aggregate travel stress and CWB. Findings suggest that travel has a deleterious effect on various forms of team functioning and performance. As a result, organizations and leaders need to be aware of the potential side effects of travel, and researchers need to further incorporate travel into models and examinations of workplace stress. This is the first study to provide a theoretically driven investigation of the effects of business travel on team outcomes and to apply COR theory to team-level phenomena. Results put forth offer a more nuanced understanding of the effects of travel as well as open up new avenues of exploration for COR theory.

Trauma team size and task performance in adult trauma resuscitations

BackgroundThe initial evaluation of a trauma patient involves multiple personnel from various disciplines. Whereas this approach can expedite care, an increasing number of personnel can also create chaos and hinder efficiency. We sought to determine the optimal number of persons associated with an expedient primary survey. MethodsAudio and/or video recordings of all consecutive adult trauma evaluations at a level 1 trauma center were reviewed for a 1-month period. A 20-task checklist was developed based on Advanced Trauma Life Support principles. The number of practitioners present (TeamN) and tasks completed at 2 and 5 min (Task2, Task5) were recorded. The association between TeamN, demographics, presence of attending surgeon, and team leader engagement and Task2/Task5 was measured the using chi square test and Spearman correlation. A multivariate regression model was developed. ResultsA total of 170 cases were reviewed, 44 of which were top-tier activations. Average TeamN was 6 ± 2 persons. Task2 and Task5 were significantly positively correlated with TeamN (r = 0.34, P < 0.0001; r = 0.22, P = 0.004, respectively) and leader engagement (r = 0.27, P < 0.01; r = 0.16, P < 0.05, respectively). There was a significant positive correlation between TeamN and Task2 and Task5. Only TeamN had a significant, independent association with Task2 and Task5 (P = 0.005). We did not find a size that was negatively associated with task completion. Only assessment of breath sounds was negatively associated with increasing team size. ConclusionsTeamN is significantly associated with efficiency of trauma evaluation. Studies evaluating reasons for this and the effect of maximal team size are needed to determine optimal trauma team staffing.

The Effect of Task-Load Transitions on Team Postural Dynamics

This study examined order effects of task-load (TL) transitions on team task performance and interpersonal postural coordination. Twenty-three dyads played a cooperative video game (Air Force Spaceship Simulator-AFSS) under two task-load order conditions (high-low-high; low-high-low). Performance was affected by task-load, with dyads performing more efficiently under low task-load. For interpersonal postural coordination, we found an interaction between task-load and order of presentation. Specifically, pairs that transitioned from high-to-low TL exhibited less stable coordination in the high TL condition than pairs transitioning from low-to-high, indicating that measures of postural coordination may provide insight into team dynamics that is not captured by assessing team performance alone. We also confirmed that the postural coordination we observed was indeed driven by inherent demands of the team task, and was additionally indicative of individual team coordination patterns. This latter finding is potentially indicative of individual differences in team strategy.

Does Team Culture Matter? Roles of Team Culture and Collective Regulatory Focus in Team Task and Creative Performance

Despite the vast amount of research on the antecedents of team performance, the role of subcultures in team contexts has only received scant attention. This study investigates the relationships between different types of team culture and team performance. Team-level analyses conducted on the leaders and members of 104 teams revealed a significant association between internal process team culture and team task performance, as well as a marginally significant relationship between human relations team culture and team task performance. Furthermore, team prevention focus mediated the relationships between internal process and human relations team cultures and team task performance. Team promotion focus mediated the relationship between open system team culture and team creative performance. These findings offer new insights regarding team culture, collective regulatory focus, and team performance.

Service leadership for adaptive selling and effective customer service teams

Companies are increasingly relying on customer service teams to deliver quality service critical for repeat business and profitability. But these teams need leadership to be effective. This study proposes that service leaders promote quality customer service by encouraging teams to develop adaptive selling capabilities. Data were collected from 113 customer service team leaders and 285 team members from a sample of consumer electronics retailing firms in Beijing, China. Data support the reasoning that by espousing service values, listening to customers, and encouraging improvements, service leaders help their teams become capable adaptive sellers. Results further suggest the contribution of team adaptive selling on customer team task performance, orientation to customers, and ability to recover from shortcomings in service. Findings extend recent research that leaders can have substantial impact by strengthening teamwork among followers by finding that service leaders develop customer service teams to be effective adaptive sellers.

Temporal Distance, Communication Patterns, and Task Performance in Teams

Drawing on theories on dispersed teamwork, computer-mediated communications, and organizations, we examine the direct associations between temporal distance and team performance as well as the mediating role of team interaction. We tested our research model in a laboratory experiment with four temporal distance conditions. Results show that the direct associations between temporal distance and team performance are substantially diminished when we enter the intervening team communication variables (communication frequency and turn-taking) into the analysis model. We find that communication frequency and turn-taking have differentiated effects on conveyance of information and convergence on its meaning. Conveyance is positively associated with production speed, whereas convergence is positively associated with higher product quality (i.e., accuracy). These findings speak to the theoretical significance of communication patterns and information exchange behaviors in dispersed team research. They also transcend the common wisdom that temporal distance is good for speed and bad for quality.

A comparative assessment and gap analysis of commonly used team rating scales

BackgroundThe purpose of this article was to conduct a gap analysis of important team constructs that may be absent in widely used team assessments. Methods and materialsTwo assessment tools with known validity evidence (1) Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons (NOTSS) and (2) the Cannon-Bowers Scale were used to evaluate 11 teams of surgical residents (n = 33) performing simulated laparoscopic hernia repairs. Faculty raters' scores were used to compare the surveys and assess validity and reliability. Raters' detailed observation notes were used to indicate important behavioral constructs that were missing from the team rating scales. ResultsWhen assessing inter-item correlations (reliability) four of five NOTSS' scale items had significant correlations (r = 0.9–1.0, P < 0.05) with the Cannon-Bowers items. While the correlations were only noted for three of six Cannon-Bowers items, in each instance the same four of five NOTSS items correlated with the three Cannon-Bowers items, thus providing further validity evidence for both scales. When evaluating the gap, key emerging themes included the need to focus on critical team errors, individual team member contributions, task performance, and overall team performance. These gaps, plus items from the NOTSS and Cannon-Bowers scales, were incorporated into a new rating scale. ConclusionsDespite continued evidence of validity and reliability, there were several behavioral constructs that were not represented when using the NOTSS and Cannon-Bowers scales. Critical team errors, individual team member contributions, task performance, and overall team performance appear important in our ability to understand teams and teamwork.

Factors Affecting Team Size and Task Performance in Pediatric Trauma Resuscitation

Varying team size based on anticipated injury acuity is a common method for limiting personnel during trauma resuscitation. While missing personnel may delay treatment, large teams may worsen care through role confusion and interference. This study investigates factors associated with varying team size and task completion during trauma resuscitation. Video-recorded resuscitations of pediatric trauma patients (n = 201) were reviewed for team size (bedside and total) and completion of 24 resuscitation tasks. Additional patient characteristics were abstracted from our trauma registry. Linear regression was used to assess which characteristics were associated with varying team size and task completion. Task completion was then analyzed in relation to team size using best-fit curves. The average bedside team ranged from 2.7 to 10.0 members (mean, 6.5 [SD, 1.7]), with 4.3 to 17.7 (mean, 11.0 [SD, 2.8]) people total. More people were present during high-acuity activations (+4.9, P < 0.001) and for patients with a penetrating injury (+2.3, P = 0.002). Fewer people were present during activations without prearrival notification (-4.77, P < 0.001) and at night (-1.25, P = 0.002). Task completion in the first 2 minutes ranged from 4 to 19 (mean, 11.7 [SD, 3.8]). The maximum number of tasks was performed at our hospital by teams with 7 people at the bedside (13 total). Resuscitation task completion varies by team size, with a nonlinear association between number of team members and completed tasks. Management of team size during high-acuity activations, those without prior notification, and those in which the patient has a penetrating injury may help optimize performance.

Improving corporate performance by enhancing team dynamics at the board level

Board performance research conducted over the last 50 years has focused on individual directors’ economically-motivated behaviors and outcomes, and has generated inconsistent and disappointing results. Most research does not consider the board as a team, despite recent calls for a focus on collective board processes and behaviors. A recent survey revealed that 90 per cent of directors rate their individual performance as very effective but only 30 per cent rate overall board performance at an equivalent level, exposing a gap that needs to be addressed. The discrepancy between individual and team performance effectiveness was the focus of this research, based on original data from 182 directors and their assessment of their board’s dynamic, team task performance efficacy, team potency and the impact of their activities, as a board, on firm profitability. Our findings show that director experience, social network and cultural intelligence quotient, as well as their ability to achieve high levels of team interaction – thereby lowering information asymmetry – have a significant impact on corporate profitability. Our study demonstrates that the impact of board functioning as a team is an eight times greater predictor of corporate performance than individual director demographics. We found that this team dynamic as well as team potency has a positive impact on profitability, while the focus on compliance-oriented tasks has a significantly negative effect on profitability. The insights of this study should help boards and their advisors better focus their efforts to improve team dynamic, optimize board interactions and refocus their attention on value-creating activities. We also believe that improving board team dynamics will have an unintended consequence of bringing a level of individual and team satisfaction back to the boardroom.