Teams Are Changing: Are Research and Practice Evolving Fast Enough?

TLDR

Team experiences, research topics, and organizational practices were once closely aligned, but changing team nature and environments have created new needs that research and practice have struggled to keep pace with. The study identifies three major change themes affecting teams: dynamic composition, technology and distance, and empowerment with delayering. For each theme, the authors share observations, review related science, identify future research needs, and outline challenges and recommendations for applying effective team‑based practices. The authors conclude that future research will require new theories, methods, and analyses to study emerging team dynamics.

Abstract

In the past, there was a fairly strong alignment between what teams experienced, the topics that team researchers were studying, and the practices that organizations used to manage their teams. However, the nature of teams and the environment in which they operate has changed, and as a result, new needs have emerged. Although there have been some innovative advancements, research and practice have not always adjusted to remain aligned with emerging needs. We highlight 3 significant change themes that are affecting teams: (a) dynamic composition, (b) technology and distance, and (c) empowerment and delayering. For each theme, we share our observations, review the related science and identify future research needs, and specify challenges and recommendations for employing effective team-based practices in applied settings. We conclude with thoughts about the future and suggest that new theories, research methods, and analyses may be needed to study the new team dynamics.