Trust within teams: The relation with performance effectiveness

The acknowledgement that trust is important for the functioning of organizations has increased the demand for research showing how this importance is reflected on the behaviour of its members. In this article we focus on trust within teams and explore the relation with performance effectiveness. A model was tested relating trust with perceived task performance, team satisfaction, relationship commitment, and stress. In this model trust is presented as a multi-component variable with distinct but related dimensions. These include propensity to trust, perceived trustworthiness, cooperative and monitoring behaviours. Data from 112 teams collected in three social care institutions in The Netherlands were analysed with structural equation modelling to test the model. The results are supportive of the multi-component structure of trust and confirmed the importance of trust for the functioning of teams in organizations. The results suggest that trust is positively related with perceived task performance, team satisfaction, and relationship commitment, and negatively related with stress. In addition, perceived task performance was positively related with team satisfaction.     

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

We 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.     

The differential effect of team members' trust on team performance: The mediation role of team cohesion

This study examines team performance as affected by various trusting relationships: trust between team members and the team's trust in their direct manager and in top management. Data for the study were collected from a survey of 690 professional elite athletes (belonging to 59 different sports clubs) playing in the regular, top professional Spanish leagues. The model was tested at the team level. Findings reveal that team member trust with respect to the different foci has both a direct and indirect effect on team performance, and that team player trust and cohesion play a mediating role. This study illustrates the dynamic relationship within teams, and, as such, trust among teammates mediates the relationship between trust in the coach as well as team cohesion in determining team performance. The implications for managing teams in other contexts are also evaluated.     

Taking a deeper look inside autonomous and interdependent teams: why,how, and when does informational dissimilarity elicit dysfunctional versus beneficial effects

ABSTRACT

Organizations increasingly use cross-functional teams, characterized by autonomy and interdependence, to improve innovation and to adapt to a dynamic business environment. Based on this trend, prior research started to investigate informational dissimilarity (employee’s dissimilarity relative to teammates regarding education, job specialization, and expertise) in teams. Two key team outcomes are 1) team members’ satisfaction with the team and 2) the team’s proactivity. Paradoxically, some researchers reported dysfunctional informational dissimilarity effects on employee outcomes, while some reported beneficial effects. To integrate opposing informational dissimilarity effects, we apply the categorization-elaboration model of team diversity. We theorize that perceived informational dissimilarity can elicit simultaneously dysfunctional effects on satisfaction with the team and beneficial effects on the team member’s proactivity. We specify the mechanisms of both effects by investigating the mediating roles of peer unfairness (representing dysfunctional informational dissimilarity effects) and information elaboration (representing beneficial informational dissimilarity effects). To reconcile these contradicting processes, we analyse the role of trust. We conducted a survey study at three different measurement time points with team members from different organizations. The results indicate that trust in teammates dampens dysfunctional informational dissimilarity effects and amplifies beneficial effects.     

网络协作过程中团队成员信任机制的实验研究

本文采用情景模拟实验的方法,以大学生为研究对象,通过模拟现实环境中虚拟团队的工作方式,考察了虚拟团队协作过程中个体信任六个因子（风险、利益、实用价值、影响力、兴趣以及努力程度）的发展。实验历时两个月,共进行三次问卷调查,收集了不同阶段各个团队个体信任六个因子变化发展的数据。本研究运用蜘蛛图和平衡秤模型分析了积极团队和消极团队个体信任发展的差异。研究结果表明,在虚拟团队发展的早期,个人利益和兴趣是影响个体信任的主要因子,随着团队任务的进展,实用价值成为后期主要的影响因素之一;在虚拟团队发展早期,成员间可能会发生较为激烈的人际和任务冲突,并对兴趣和努力等因子产生消极的影响;相对于消极团队,积极团队更专注于团队任务,成员更乐于参与团队协作并提高自身的影响力。     

Trust in leadership and team performance: evidence from NCAA basketball

This study empirically examined the relationship between trust, leadership, and team performance with 2 objectives. The 1st objective was to empirically examine an assumption found in several literatures--that a team's trust in its leader has a significant effect on the team's performance. The 2nd objective was to explore a more complex and dynamic relationship between trust and team performance whereby trust in leadership mediates the relationship between past team performance and future team performance. This relationship is derived by combining theories of trust with an attributional theory of leadership. Survey and archival data from a sample of men's college basketball teams provides support for both hypotheses, indicating that trust in leadership is both a product and a determinant of team performance.     

Team Perceived Trustworthiness in a Complex Military Peacekeeping Simulation

Antecedents to trust (propensity to trust, perceived trustworthiness) and trust behaviors were examined in relation to team performance in a complex eight-mission military peacekeeping simulation. Teams were colocated or distributed and stayed in the same or transferred to a different context at task transfer. In Experiment 1, an ability and competence factor accounted for most of the variance in perceived trustworthiness and greater perceptions of teammates' abilities/competences predicted posttransfer performance. One's perception of how others perceived one's ability/competence increased over missions. In Experiment 2, propensity to trust did not predict performance; however, trust in others' and one's own ability/competence and trust behaviors predicted performance. At task and/or context transfer, teams produced more monitoring and less cooperating language in their communication.     

Perceived shared understanding in teams: The motivational effect of being ‘on the same page’

This study examines the role of perceived shared understanding with regard to team performance, taking into account the motivational mechanisms (i.e., group potency and team effort) involved in this relationship and the moderating role of task routineness. Using a multisource approach and a team‐level design, we collected data from 101 teams (i.e., 381 members and their 101 immediate superiors) working in a Canadian public safety organization. The results support the mediating role of group potency and team effort in the relationship between perceived shared understanding and team performance. Moreover, the results show that the relationship between team effort and team performance is moderated by task routineness, such that this relationship is stronger when task routineness is high. On the whole, the findings of this study help to better understand why and under what circumstances perceived shared understanding may enhance team performance.     

The role of decision influence and team performance in member self-efficacy, withdrawal, satisfaction with the leader, and willingness to return

This study examines team performance as a moderator of the relationship between decision influence and outcomes relevant to team effectiveness in hierarchical teams with distributed ex pertise. In this type of team staff members have unique roles and make recommendations to the team leader, who ultimately makes the team's final decisions. It is suggested that the positive rela tionship between decision influence and favorable outcomes (e.g., satisfaction) consistently described in the literature is dependent on team performance in this type of team. Specifically, team effec tiveness outcomes are proposed to be consistently more favorable in higher performing than in lower performing teams. Decision influence is proposed to relate positively to member satisfaction with the leader, willingness to return, and self-efficacy and to relate negatively to withdrawal in higher performing teams. The opposite pattern of relationships is expected in lower performing teams. A laboratory study was conducted with 228 undergradu ates performing a computer task as subordinates in 76 four-person teams with a confederate leader. The results generally support the hypotheses and illustrate a dilemma for leaders attempting to manage team effectiveness.     

虚拟团队沟通模式对信任和绩效的作用

本研究采用资源两难的情景模拟．研究虚拟团队中沟通模式对于团队信任和绩效的作用,120名被试参与了实验。研究发现．虚拟团队在资源两难任务中．沟通模式对信任和绩效的作用均达到显著水平．团队的信任和绩效水平在网络式沟通模式中最高,其次是层级模式,在序列模式中最低,显示了沟通模式在虚拟团队中作用方式。     

Does diversity in team members’ agreeableness benefit creative teams?

Although deep-level diversity among team members are often discussed as important catalysts of team creativity, little is currently understood about the impact of diversity in team members’ personality on team creativity and team satisfaction. We propose that diversity in team members’ agreeableness would reduce the effectiveness of creative teams through its impact on team conflict experienced. To test our hypotheses, we recruited 93 student teams to participate in a laboratory study where each member had their personality traits assessed before engaging in a team creativity task. We found that diversity in team members’ agreeableness was positively associated with team task conflict experienced which, in turn, was negatively associated with team creativity. Additionally, we found that diversity in team members’ agreeableness was positively associated with team relationship conflict, which, in turn, was negatively associated with team satisfaction. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

团队权力分布差异对团队冲突的影响：程序公平和合法性的作用

近年来团队权力分布差异与团队冲突间关系受到了学界较大关注, 但相关研究结果仍存在分歧。通过对70个工作团队的调查, 探讨了团队权力分布差异对团队冲突(任务冲突、关系冲突)作用的边界条件。结果发现, 程序公平调节了两者间关系：当程序公平较高时, 团队权力分布差异与任务冲突、关系冲突负相关; 当程序公平较低时, 团队权力分布差异与任务冲突、关系冲突正相关。此外, 被中介的调节模型分析显示, 团队合法性感知中介了程序公平的上述调节作用。     

The effects of team strategic orientation on team process and information search

We tested the effects of team strategic orientation on team member perceptions, work strategy and information search. In Experiment 1, 80 teams worked on a hidden profile decision-making task. A defensive team strategic orientation increased members’ perceptions of the problem’s scope, leading to a more process-focused work strategy and broader information search compared to an offensive team strategic orientation. When teams needed critical information from the environment, defensive teams outperformed offensive teams; offensive teams performed better when critical information resided within the team. In Experiment 2, these findings were replicated with 92 teams performing a different decision task. When making a second decision, half of the teams were led to change their strategic orientation; teams shifting from offense to defense altered their information search behavior more readily than did teams shifting in the opposite direction, suggesting an asymmetric adaptation effect.     

The Role of Leadership and Trust in Creating Structural Patterns of Team Procedural Justice: A Social Network Investigation

We adopt a social network perspective to investigate the distinct structural patterns (i.e., centralization and density) of procedural justice (PJ) in teams and the antecedent factors that create them. Across 2 longitudinal field studies in which we gathered social network data from 1,008 workers on 138 teams (Study 1) in China and 672 workers on 125 teams (Study 2) in the United States, we found that differentiation in leader–member exchange relationships significantly influenced the centralization and density of PJ within a team by affecting the level of intrateam trust. Specifically, the more differentiated leader treatment team members received, the lower the level of trust within a team, which resulted in more concentrated (high centralization) and fewer (low density) social interactions among members regarding team PJ. Furthermore, differentiated leader treatment of team members was especially damaging to intrateam trust and, in turn, the structural patterns of team PJ when team members were in close proximity and highly sensitive to equity issues.     

Investigating a process model for leader affective presence,interpersonal emotion regulation,and interpersonal behaviour in teams

Leader affective presence is the tendency of leaders to elicit feelings that are consistent among other individuals, and has been supported as a relevant personality trait for understanding teamwork. Drawing on a model that integrates personality and emotion regulation, this study aimed to expand research on affective presence by proposing team members’ perceptions of leader interpersonal emotion regulation as a process that explains how leader affective presence is related to team member behaviour. In the model, teamness—the perception that interdependence and reflexivity are required in the team—is presented as a boundary condition to the effects of affective presence via emotion regulation. Results of a study conducted with 99 teams showed that team member ratings of leader positive affective presence were linked to their perceptions that leaders had used affect-improving emotion regulation which in turn was associated with greater team citizenship behaviour. Contrariwise, team member ratings of leader negative affective presence were associated with perceived use of affect-worsening emotion regulation by leaders which in turn was associated with lower levels of team citizenship, but only when teams were low in teamness. These findings contribute to understanding how leaders’ individual differences are related to teamwork through affective processes.     

Guanxi networks and members' effectiveness in Chinese work teams: Mediating effects of trust networks

The present study examined 33 teams with a total of 206 team members (excluding team leaders) to explore the effects of intrateam guanxi and trust networks on individual effectiveness in Taiwan. Guanxi networks included non-job, departmental and past team networks, while trust networks included affective and cognitive trust networks. Results showed that: (i) guanxi networks could better explain members' effectiveness compared with relational demography, and different guanxi networks had different effects; (ii) the more central an individual's position was in the cognitive trust network, the higher the individual's effectiveness; (iii) the past team guanxi network of a team member displayed a positive effect on the centrality of cognitive trust network, while non-job and departmental guanxi networks showed negative effects; and (iv) the effects of members' guanxi networks on individual effectiveness were mediated by the centrality of trust networks.     

When and how do differences matter? An exploration of perceived similarity in teams

In this paper, we directly assess perceived similarity—the degree to which members view themselves as having few differences—because we want to understand when teams notice diversity on various member characteristics and how they interpret it. Our results indicate social category diversity was related to initial estimates of both perceived social category similarity (SCS) and perceived work style similarity (WSS). And, whereas perceived SCS did not change over time, perceived WSS decreased significantly over the period of our study. We suggest this change in perceived WSS can be explained by an information-processing/decision-making framework. We found informational diversity was positively related to conflict in teams, and in turn conflict was negatively related to subsequent estimates of perceived WSS. However, informational diversity was positively related to information sharing in teams, which in turn was positively related to subsequent estimates of perceived WSS. Finally, these updated estimates of perceived WSS affected subgroup formation and team process effectiveness. We discuss how our research explores the subjective experience of diversity by team members, provides a dynamic view of the relationship between diversity and team outcomes, and informs emerging theory about the activation of faultlines in teams.     

Trust in the workplace: factors affecting trust formation between team members

The authors used survey data from 127 professional-level employees working in 8 industries to assess the effects of respondent's trusting stance and (a) the trustee's organization membership (internal or external), (b) the hierarchical relationship (supervisor or peer), and (c) the gender of the trustee, on initial trust level for a new project team member. The authors found that trusting stance was positively related to initial trust level. The authors also found an interaction effect between respondent gender and trustee gender on initial trust. Specifically, male initial trust level was higher for a new male team member and lower for a new female team member. The present study provided additional understanding of the formation of initial trust levels and its importance for team functioning.     

Bullying and harassment at work and their relationships to work environment quality: An exploratory study

Team-based working has become a popular model of work organization. One of the expected yields of working in teams is collective learning. As team members work closely together they are likely to exchange information, which can enhance learning. One of the processes that may facilitate team learning is team conflict. In this study, 471 respondents, working in 84 teams in 38 organizations, indicated their perceptions of task conflict, relationship conflict, team learning, and their rating of the performance of the team. Task conflict was not related to team learning but was negatively related to the team members' rating of team performance. As was hypothesized, relationship conflict negatively affected team learning. Importantly, team learning was a strong predictor of the perceived team performance and partially mediated the relation between relationship conflict and performance.     

团队共享心智模型的影响因素与效果

采用两种测量方法对团队共享心智模型的影响因素与影响效果进行探讨。多元回归和层次回归分析的结果表明,团队成员沟通得越好,就越有利于形成共享心智模型;如果团队中存在搭便车的行为越严重,就越不利于形成共享心智模型;共享心智模型有利于团队有效运作,取得好的绩效;有共享心智模型的团队,成员的满意度比较高,群体效能感较高,并且团队成员之间的密切关系会延续到工作之外;共享心智模型在团队运行过程变量和团队有效性之间起到中介作用。