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

TLDR

The study surveyed 652 employees in 51 teams, using four scoring methods to quantify team composition (ability and personality) and examined their relationships with social cohesion and outcomes of team viability and performance. Teams scoring higher in general mental ability, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability received better supervisor ratings for performance, while higher scores in GMA, extraversion, and emotional stability predicted higher viability, with extraversion and emotional stability influencing viability via social cohesion.

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 operationaliz e 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.