Small Group Research

Framed in trait activation theory, we examine the influence of personality, psychological safety, and the mediating effect of speaking time on team member effectiveness ratings in team meetings with 21 student teams (110 individuals). Extraversion was positively related to speaking time and indirectly related to team member effectiveness via speaking time. Although psychological safety was not related to speaking time, it was positively related to team member effectiveness. No significant effects were found for emotional stability. This work provides theoretical rationale and empirical support for the traits and behavior in team meetings that influence ratings of team member effectiveness.

Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we conducted a study examining how leader departure influences changes in staff turnover and how these changes subsequently affect variability in leader–member exchange differentiation (LMXD), ultimately influencing variability in relationship conflict. We examined these relationships in a four-wave survey design comprising 1,512 observations from 845 employees spanning 40 business units. The findings revealed that leader departures are associated with elevated unit-level staff turnover rates, which are subsequently associated with heightened LMXD, and in turn, to increased relationship conflict.

While peer-based control is a crucial control mechanism in the context of self-managing teams, the effects of peer-based control in teams with formal leaders are found to be mixed. Integrating team regulatory theory and goal orientation theory, we investigate the interactive effects of peer-based control and leader goal orientation on team effectiveness through team reflexivity. Using the time-lagged data from three different sources, we found that peer-based control is positively associated with team reflexivity, which results in higher team effectiveness. Moreover, we found that a leader’s learning goal orientation facilitates the positive impact of peer-based control on team reflexivity.

While multiple levels of leaders have recognized the effective functions of leader humor, less is known about how department leaders exert their influence. To address this gap, we propose a relational framework that examines when and why department leader humor promotes team outcomes. Using time-lagged data from 101 department leader-team leader dyads collected in China, we provide support for the hypothesized effects of department leader humor on team outcomes, as well as the moderating effects of apparent sincerity and power distance. Contributions to the literature on leader humor and team outcomes are discussed.

Prior research has examined the use of team charters for improving teamwork in student project teams. While existing studies have examined the implementation of team charters at the time a team is formed, we find that revising charters mid-semester, plus the inclusion of feedback and coaching, results in significant increases in team commitment, team satisfaction, and individual effectiveness over the use of a one-time charter. In addition to making important contributions to theory and practice, this study highlights the need for future research to consider the various mechanisms that are activated by the charter process.

Using sport as a research context, we explored how team members collectively experience team membership transitions. We employed focus group interviewing with 27 university-level athletes competing in both cross country and track and field. Our findings provide insight into the configurational and temporal aspects influencing faultline-divided team functioning across contexts.