S. (Stefan) Berger, Dr

Veni Grant: The Employee Experience of Dynamic Team Membership

Teams are at the core of how work is accomplished in virtually all human pursuits, and billions of euros are invested in team development each year. Most of the knowledge undergirding these development activities rests upon research on archetypical (i.e., full-time and stable) teams. Most of today’s employees, however, work in situations characterized by part-time and unstable team membership, thus challenging our understanding of the nature and effective management of contemporary teamwork.

In recent years, the growing literature on non-archetypical teamwork has zoomed in on part-time or unstable team membership in related, yet separate literature streams. Thereby, extant research has overlooked constellations characterized by both, part-time and unstable membership. This is problematic because (a) a recent study shows that 44% of employees work in such a situation—a phenomenon I refer to as dynamic team membership—and (b) focusing on either part-time or unstable team membership ignores important dynamics.

The focus of this Veni project is to advance the teamwork literature by putting a spotlight on the employee experience of such dynamic team membership. Beyond its scientific contributions, the project has significant societal impact, as more than 90% of today’s organizations rely on teams and their members to perform effectively. This impact materializes in the dissemination of important knowledge about the dynamics, consequences, and management of non-archetypical teamwork, as well as an associated training module, relevant to stakeholders in academic, organizational, and university contexts.