Isabel Dórdio Dimas

The effects on team emotions and team effectiveness of coaching in interprofessional health and social care teams

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of coaching behaviours provided by peers and by the leader on the emotions experienced by interprofessional health and social care teams and on members’ satisfaction with the team, as well as on team performance. Data were obtained from a survey among 344 employees working in 52 interprofessional health and social care teams from nine Portuguese organizations. The results show that leader coaching and peer coaching have a positive effect on the level of team members’ satisfaction with the team and on positive emotions, and a negative effect on negative emotions. Furthermore, coaching provided by peers presents a positive effect on team performance as assessed by the leader of the team. Our findings put forward the importance of engaging in coaching behaviours to promote quality of the team experience, as well as the achievement of team performance objectives. Further studies should explore how coaching behaviours impact the patient, whose well-being is the ultimate objective of a team in the health and social care system, namely in terms of the patient’s perception of quality care or patient outcomes.

A Nonlinear Multicriteria Model for Team Effectiveness

The study of team effectiveness has received significant attention in recent years. Team effectiveness is an important subject since teams play an increasingly decisive role on modern organizations. This study is inherently a multicriteria problem as different criteria are typically required to assess team effectiveness. Among the different aspects of interest on the study of team effectiveness one of the utmost importance is to acknowledge, as accurately as possible, the relationships that team resources and team processes establish with team effectiveness. Typically, these relationships are studied using linear models which fail to explain the complexity inherent to group phenomena. In this study we propose a novel approach using radial basis functions to construct a multicriteria nonlinear model to more accurately capture the relationships between the team resources/processes and team effectiveness. By combining principal component analysis, radial basis functions interpolation, and cross-validation for model parameter tuning, we obtained a data fitting method that generated an approximate response with reliable trend predictions between the given data points.

Learning conditions, members’ motivation and satisfaction: a multilevel analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to contribute to the clarification of the conditions under which teams can be successful, especially those related to team learning. To attain this goal, in the present study, the mediating role played by team members’ motivation on the relationship between team learning conditions (shared learning beliefs and team learning support) and members’ satisfaction with the team was analysed. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study with a multilevel design was carried out. Data concerning learning conditions, motivation and satisfaction were obtained from a survey among 398 employees working in 71 teams that perform complex tasks from 24 companies. A multilevel analysis was conducted. Findings – Overall, the results showed that both team learning conditions – shared learning beliefs and team learning support – had a significant positive effect on members’ satisfaction, which was mediated by members’ motivation. Originality/value – The proliferation of groups in th...

A Cusp Catastrophe Model for Satisfaction, Conflict, and Conflict Management in Teams

Teams are now a structural feature in organizations, and conflict, which is recognized as an inescapable phenomenon in the team context, has become an area of increased research interest. While the literature shows contradictory results regarding the impact of conflicts on teams, the strategies used to manage them have shown that can help to explain the differentiated effects of conflict situations. Adopting a nonlinear dynamic system perspective, this research tests a cusp catastrophe model for explaining team members’ satisfaction, considering the roles of conflict and of conflict management. In this model, the conflict type is the asymmetry variable and conflict-handling strategies are the bifurcation variables. The sample is composed of 44 project teams, and data was collected at two points (half-way through and at the end of the project). The presence of a cusp catastrophe structure in the data was tested through both the dynamic difference equation modeling approach, which implements the least squares regression technique, and the indirect method, which uses the maximum likelihood estimation of the parameters. The results suggest that the cusp model is superior to the linear model when the bifurcation variables are passive strategies, while less clear results were found when active strategies are considered. Thus, the findings show a tendency for a nonlinear effect of passive strategies on members’ satisfaction. Accordingly, this study contributes to the literature by presenting passive conflict-handling strategies in a bifurcation role, which suggests that beyond a certain threshold of the use of these kind of strategies, teams might oscillate between two attractors.

Bouncing Back from Setbacks: On the Mediating Role of Team Resilience in the Relationship Between Transformational Leadership and Team Effectiveness

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of team resilience on different facets of effectiveness (team viability and quality of the group experience). Moreover, given the importance of team resilience for the organizational context, it was also our aim to contribute to the study of the conditions that promote team resilience, analyzing the role of transformational leadership. Finally, we examined whether the relationship between transformational leadership and team resilience stimulates positive team outcomes. Ninety teams (445 employees from 40 companies) were surveyed and path analysis was used in the test of the hypotheses. The results showed a positive direct effect of team resilience on both team viability and the quality of the group experience. Moreover, a positive relationship was also identified between transformational leadership and team resilience. Finally, support was found for the mediated effect of team resilience on the relationship between transformational leadership and the dimensions of team effectiveness considered. The findings of this study highlight the role of team resilience as an intervening process between transformational leadership and team effectiveness. Supervisors should promote team resilience, adopting transformational leadership behaviors, in order to contribute to increase team viability and the quality of the group experience.

Generating team PsyCap through transformational leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to contribute to a deeper understanding of the effects of transformational leadership on team performance, examining the role of team psychological capital (team PsyCap) and team learning behaviours as intervening mechanisms in that relationship. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative study with a cross-sectional design was conducted. The sample was composed of 82 teams from 57 Portuguese companies. Hypotheses were tested through structural equation modelling. Findings Results revealed that transformational leadership is positively related to team PsyCap, which, in turn, is positively related to team learning behaviours. Moreover, the study’s findings supported the indirect influence of transformational leadership on team performance, through the role played by team PsyCap and team learning behaviours. Originality/value This is the first study that considers the mediating role of team PsyCap and team learning behaviours in the relationship between transformational leadership and team performance. In this manner, the present research contributes to the body of research on leadership, highlighting the way through which leadership might translate into team performance. Moreover, it contributes also to the positive organisational behaviour literature, identifying both antecedents and consequents of team PsyCap. The study’s findings encourage organisations to develop ways of reinforcing transformational leadership behaviours and psychological capital among teams.

Scale of Satisfaction with the Working Group: Construction and Validation Studies

O presente artigo visa descrever o processo de construcao e estudo das qualidades psicometricas da Escala de Satisfacao Grupal (ESAG). No primeiro estudo (n = 321 membros/77 equipas), procurou avaliar-se a estrutura interna da ESAG atraves de uma Analise Fatorial Exploratoria. Os resultados revelaram uma estrutura unidimensional que foi confirmada pela conducao de uma Analise Fatorial Confirmatoria com uma segunda amostra (n = 403 membros/73 equipas). No terceiro estudo procurou avaliar-se a validade nomologica da ESAG (n = 471 membros/75 equipas), tendo os resultados revelado a presenca de correlacoes negativas com o conflito intragrupal e com as emocoes negativas e de uma correlacao positiva com as emocoes positivas. A consistencia interna da ESAG, avaliada nos tres estudos, apresentou valores adequados.

Escala de satisfação com o grupo de trabalho (ESAGT): construção e estudos de validação

O presente artigo visa descrever o processo de construcao e estudo das qualidades psicometricas da Escala de Satisfacao Grupal (ESAG). No primeiro estudo (n = 321 membros/77 equipas), procurou avaliar-se a estrutura interna da ESAG atraves de uma Analise Fatorial Exploratoria. Os resultados revelaram uma estrutura unidimensional que foi confirmada pela conducao de uma Analise Fatorial Confirmatoria com uma segunda amostra (n = 403 membros/73 equipas). No terceiro estudo procurou avaliar-se a validade nomologica da ESAG (n = 471 membros/75 equipas), tendo os resultados revelado a presenca de correlacoes negativas com o conflito intragrupal e com as emocoes negativas e de uma correlacao positiva com as emocoes positivas. A consistencia interna da ESAG, avaliada nos tres estudos, apresentou valores adequados.

A Neural Network Model for Team Viability

Team effectiveness has been the focus of numerous studies since teams play an increasingly decisive role in modern organizations. In the present paper, our attention is centered on team viability, which is one dimension of team effectiveness. Given the challenges that actual teams face today, exploring the conditions and processes that enhance the capacity of teams to adapt and continue to work together is a fundamental research path to pursue. In this study, team psychological capital and team learning were considered as antecedents of team viability. The relationships that team psychological capital and team learning establish with team viability were explored as accurately as possible. Typically, these relationships are assumed to be linear as multivariate linear models are often used. However, these linear models fail to explain possible nonlinear relations between variables, expected to exist in dynamic systems as teams. Adopting computational modeling strategies in the context of organizational psychology has become more common. In this paper, radial basis function models and neural networks were used to study the complex relationships between team psychological capital, team learning and team viability.

Learning culture and affective well-being at work: How does the need for individual growth matter in this relationship?

The present research aims (a) to assess the impact that a learning context has on people, namely in terms of their affective well-being at work; and (b) to understand the role of individual growth need strength in this relationship. A cross-sectional research design was conducted, in which were surveyed 145 public service workers. A structured additive regression (STAR) model was proposed for the analysis of the data. A linear effect of one dimension of learning culture (external adaptation), and a nonlinear effect of individual growth need on affective well-being were identified. Although the moderation effects were not statistically significant, the findings suggested a pattern where a balance between learning culture and individual growth need levels lead to higher values of affective well-being.