Coordination as Energy-in-Conversation

Abstract

Coordination is the process people use to create, adapt, and re-create organizations. We propose a theory of coordination as energy-in-conversation to help organizational scholars comprehend the emotional and motivational dynamics of coordination. Our model describes how people generate and diminish their energy in their attempts to coordinate, how this energy affects attempts to coordinate, and how coordinating affects the effort devoted to the activities in the process. This account of the coordination process presents a new approach for understanding performance in interdependent situations.

The Upward Spirals in Team Processes: Examining Dynamic Positivity in Problem Solving Teams

“…This proposition is centrally derived from emotional cycle theory, according to which, the "original emotion of an agent may arise from external conditions or individual dispositions, but the ensuing emotions will be a product of the interpersonal emotion cycle" (Hareli & Rafaeli, 2008: 41). In line with the theories of emotional contagion and energy as conversation, the display of positive emotions by some team members not only leads others to ''catch'' these emotions (Barsade, 2002;Hatfield et al, 1994), but also impacts people's sense-making or interpretation of felt energy, emotion and expressive gestures (Quinn & Dutton, 2005), which leads back to the course of team interactions and conversations. We thus highlight the reciprocal interpersonal influence of positivity in teams -an idea originally mentioned, albeit briefly, by Fredrickson (2000).…”

“…For example, a person's (let's say Anna's) emotions can influence the emotions, thoughts and behaviors of others, which in turn influences their future interactions with Anna and impact Anna's future emotions and behaviors (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996;De Dreu, West, Fischer, & MacCurtain, 2001), thereby creating on-going emotional cycles. Quinn & Dutton (2005) describe how positive emotions can shape individual and collective experiences (i.e., how energizing or positive the experience is) during team-situated interactions aimed at managing resources and dependencies to accomplish team goals (coordination). Drawing from the communication literature (e.g., Cooren, 2006), Quinn and Dutton (2005) contend that coordination occurs in conversations and that the way conversations unfold, along with the effort that people invest in these coordinated activities, depend in part on the energy people generate or deplete as they talk.…”

“…Quinn & Dutton (2005) describe how positive emotions can shape individual and collective experiences (i.e., how energizing or positive the experience is) during team-situated interactions aimed at managing resources and dependencies to accomplish team goals (coordination). Drawing from the communication literature (e.g., Cooren, 2006), Quinn and Dutton (2005) contend that coordination occurs in conversations and that the way conversations unfold, along with the effort that people invest in these coordinated activities, depend in part on the energy people generate or deplete as they talk. Hence, we posit that positivity, a particular form of emotional energy, plays an important role in team processes and coordination and therefore deserves an in-depth examination.…”

“…Taken together, we adopt a process-based approach to examine dynamic relationships between team task processes and positivity. Because conversations manifest as a form of team interaction and are often charged with energetic arousal (i.e., positivity) to affect team dynamics and outcomes (Quinn & Dutton, 2005), we also focus on notable features of social conversations in this study -namely speaker switches, which may indicate social influences on team interactions and task advancement (Gibson, 2005).…”

“…We attempt to fill this gap by conceptualizing positivity as a dynamic process preceded by a sequence of team member actions, and by investigating its antecedents and consequences. In doing so, we integrate existing knowledge on team processes with the theories of emotional cycles (Hareli & Rafaeli, 2008) and energyin-conversation (Quinn & Dutton, 2005).…”