Title
Time Matters in Team Performance: Effects of Member Familiarity, Entrainment, and Task Discontinuity on Speed and Quality
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2003
Publication Source
Personnel Psychology
Volume Number
56
Issue Number
3
First Page
633
Last Page
669
Publisher
Personnel Psychology, Inc.
ISSN
0031-5826
Abstract
We compared the speed and quality of performance for familiar, initially unfamiliar but continuing, and one-shot (single session) teams. We also proposed and observed entrainment effects for task time limits. Over the course of weekly sessions with changing tasks, continuing teams reached speed levels of the initially familiar teams, but the one-shot teams were consistently slower. Continuing teams also tended to have higher-quality output than the one-shot teams. There were no differences in how quickly each type of group entrained to time limits on the tasks. Entrainment was not robust to task discontinuity (Task A, then B). However, entrainment on repeated trials of a task persisted even when a different type of task “interrupted” those repeated trials (Task A, then B, then A again). Results compel a richer incorporation of time as a medium for complex task sequences, and time-based constructs as a feature of team membership in the study of group effectiveness.
Recommended Citation
Published in: Personnel Psychology, Volume 56, Issue 3, September 1, 2003, pages 633-669. Copyright © 2003 Personnel Psychology, Inc., Durham, N.C.. The final published version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2003.tb00753.x
