Key Factors for Team Effectiveness

Organizational Context

• Leadership quality
• Available resources
• Trust climate
• Performance evaluation and reward systems
• Encouragement of open communication and innovation

Team Composition

• Mix of abilities, personalities, and diversity
• Role allocation and team size
• Member adaptability and preferences
• Optimal team size proposed between 5 to 10 members
• Tenure of team members impacts efficiency
• Team personality: elevation (avg level) and diversity (variation)
• Diversity in age, gender, culture, personal values, etc.
• Benefits and challenges of diversity

Work Design

• Tasks providing autonomy, skill variety, identity, and significance
• Team job demands and workload
• Importance of team coordination and information sharing
• Autonomy balanced with accountability

Intra-Group Processes

• Coordination mechanisms
• Communication quality
• Shared goals and timelines

External Group Processes

• Interaction with other teams, supervisors, stakeholders

Team Affect or Cognition

• Cohesion, psychological safety, collective efficacy
• Importance of psychological safety
• Collective positive outlook: team efficacy, optimism, resilience

Team Effectiveness Models

Input-Process-Output Model

• Inputs: organizational structure, team composition, work design
• Efficient processes lead to improved effectiveness

Challenges to Traditional Models

• Fluid team boundaries, multiplicity of team memberships
• Impact of team dynamics on individual performance
• Teams change in composition, membership, tasks over time

Recent Findings

Team Composition

• Team size and tenure impact processes
• Team personality influences communication and work management
• Importance of a balance in personality traits

Diversity

• Surface-level vs. deep-level diversity
• Impact of diversity on performance and innovation

Work Design

• Influences workload distribution
• Autonomy vs. trust and accountability
• Stress crossover among team members

Team Processes

• Coordination, communication, adaptability skills
• Influence of team climate: cohesion, psychological safety, efficacy
• Conflict types: task, process, interpersonal

Managing Conflict

• Task conflict can be healthy in moderation
• Process and interpersonal conflict generally negative
• Strategies for minimizing negative impacts include task interdependence and team member exchange (TMX)

Conclusion

• Team effectiveness involves a complex interplay of organizational, compositional, and process factors.
• Successfully managed diversity fosters innovation and performance.
• Psychological safety and positive group dynamics enhance performance.
• Effective work design and conflict management are essential for team success.