Teamplayer
Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice 2006, Vol. 10, No. 4, 249 –271
Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association 1089-2699/06/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/1089-2699.10.4.249
What Makes a Good Team Player? Personality and Team Effectiveness
James E. Driskell
Florida Maxima Corporation
Gerald F. Goodwin
US Army Research Institute
Eduardo Salas
University of Central Florida
Patrick Gavan O’Shea
Human Resources Research Organization
Good team players are often defined in trait terms; that is, they are described as dependable, flexible, or cooperative. Our goal is to examine the relationship between team member personality traits and team effectiveness. However, to understand the effects of personality on team performance requires greater specificity in how personality is described and in how team effectiveness is described. A hierarchical model of team member personality is presented that defines higherlevel personality traits and specific facets relevant to team performance. Next, a classification of the core teamwork dimensions underlying effective team performance is presented. Finally, predictions are derived linking team member personality facets to specific teamwork requirements. Keywords: personality, teams, team work
As Ilgen (1999) and others have noted, modern organizations have increased their reliance on teams, and this has served to foster applied research on teams in task settings. After decades in which reviewers were forced to act as apologists for the lack of vitality and progress in this field, research on teams has returned with a vengeance. One reason for this renaissance in team research is that effort follows demand, and only recently has attention been devoted to the dynamics of team performance in applied settings. Whereas most early research on group performance took place in academic settings, much of the resent resurgence in team research has been driven by organizational requirements. This realization of the
Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association 1089-2699/06/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/1089-2699.10.4.249
What Makes a Good Team Player? Personality and Team Effectiveness
James E. Driskell
Florida Maxima Corporation
Gerald F. Goodwin
US Army Research Institute
Eduardo Salas
University of Central Florida
Patrick Gavan O’Shea
Human Resources Research Organization
Good team players are often defined in trait terms; that is, they are described as dependable, flexible, or cooperative. Our goal is to examine the relationship between team member personality traits and team effectiveness. However, to understand the effects of personality on team performance requires greater specificity in how personality is described and in how team effectiveness is described. A hierarchical model of team member personality is presented that defines higherlevel personality traits and specific facets relevant to team performance. Next, a classification of the core teamwork dimensions underlying effective team performance is presented. Finally, predictions are derived linking team member personality facets to specific teamwork requirements. Keywords: personality, teams, team work
As Ilgen (1999) and others have noted, modern organizations have increased their reliance on teams, and this has served to foster applied research on teams in task settings. After decades in which reviewers were forced to act as apologists for the lack of vitality and progress in this field, research on teams has returned with a vengeance. One reason for this renaissance in team research is that effort follows demand, and only recently has attention been devoted to the dynamics of team performance in applied settings. Whereas most early research on group performance took place in academic settings, much of the resent resurgence in team research has been driven by organizational requirements. This realization of the