Relating member ability and personality to work-team processes and team effectiveness.

Abstract

Six hundred fifty-two employees composing 51 work teams participated in a study examining relationships among team composition (ability and personality), team process (social cohesion), and team outcomes (team viability and team performance). Mean, variance, minimum, and maximum were 4 scoring methods used to operationalize the team composition variables to capture the team members' characteristics. With respect to composition variables, teams higher in general mental ability (GMA), conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability received higher supervisor ratings for team performance. Teams higher in GMA, extraversion, and emotional stability received higher supervisor ratings for team viability. Results also show that extraversion and emotional stability were associated with team viability through social cohesion. Implications and future research needs are discussed.

The Impact of Trait Emotional Intelligence on Nursing Team Performance and Cohesiveness

“…This result is in line with previous findings (Barrick, Stewart, Neubert;& Mount, 1998;Prati et al, 2003;Rapisarda, 2002). EI thus seems repeatedly to play a part in team cohesiveness.…”

“…Would a group that is only composed of members with high-EI ratings always perform better than a mixed group? In addition to the mean score, it would be relevant to measure maximum and minimum EI scores along with team variance, following the example of Barrick, Stewart, Neubert, and Mount (1998) in their study on the impact of the personality at group level. Such an approach would allow answering these questions.…”

The Impact of Personality and Value Diversity on Team Performance

“…Meta-analyses examining the relationship between performance and the Big Five traits have demonstrated the significant impact personality can have on job performance at the individual level (Barrick & Mount, 1991;Tett, Jackson, & Rothstein, 1991). Additionally, new research has begun to extend this focus to team level performance as well (Mohammed & Angell, 2003;Neuman et al, 1999;Barrick et al, 1998;Barry & Stewart, 1997).…”

“…Some recent studies have examined the impact of team member personality diversity in terms on team performance. For example, Barrick et al (1998) examined a variety or organizational workteams. Correlation results from this study revealed less diversity in conscientiousness was related to better team performance; less diversity in agreeableness was related to greater cohesion, less conflict, greater communication, and greater workload sharing; and more diversity in extroversion related to more cohesion.…”

“…But, for example, if all four team members were highly extroverted or all slightly introverted then the team would score low on diversity. According to Barrick et al (1998), this type of operationalization, "is appropriate when researchers seek to understand the relationship of team composition homogeneity to team process and team outcomes." (pg.…”