In teams, some people are truly noticed when present, and sorely missed when absent. Often they are described as the "life of the party", but in a formal team context, we refer to their behaviors as "team boosting behavior". These behaviors have the potential to affect the team's processes. In three consecutive studies, we conceptualized these behaviors and developed and validated a questionnaire to measure them. In Study 1, we defined team boosting behaviors as the extent to which team members exhibit mood-enhancing, energizing, and uniting behaviors, directed towards team members. In Study 2, we developed and validated an instrument to measure team boosting behaviors using a sample of team members in work and sports teams (N = 385). Results supported a three-factor structure and indicated positive relationships with conceptually similar constructs. In Study 3, we cross-validated the three-factor structure among the members of 120 work teams and offer evidence for convergent and criterion validity of the Team Boosting behavior scale. The behaviors related positively to a positive team climate, team work engagement, and leader-rated team performance. The scale provides a useful tool for future empirical research to study the role of individual team boosting behaviors in shaping team processes and outcomes.
We use emotional contagion and social resources theories to hypothesize that individual team members may use mood-enhancing, energizing, and uniting behaviors (i.e., team boosting behaviors) to boost team-level work engagement and performance. We further build on complementary-and supplementary-fit perspectives to hypothesize that environments that are open to fun and distractions will either hamper or bolster the beneficial role of team boosting behaviors. A total of 246 employees from 61 teams (team-level response rate = 56%) reported team boosting behaviors, work engagement, and the moderators; 68 team leaders rated team performance. Results suggest that team work engagement mediated the relationship between teams' pooled team boosting behaviors and team performance. This finding supports emotional contagion and social resources theories, and indicates that individual behavior is important for the affective-motivational states and functioning of the team as a whole. In addition, supporting a supplementary-fit perspective, the positive indirect association of team boosting behaviors with performance through team work engagement was strongest in teams high (vs. low) in fun-orientation or high (vs. low) openness to distractions. We discuss the pivotal role mood-enhancing, energizing, and uniting behaviors may play in boosting the team's emergent states, collective effort, and team performance. Keywords Distraction • Fun • Performance • Team boosting behaviors • Work engagementContemporary organizations that want to thrive need engaged work teams -in which team members share a motivational state characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption (Costa et al., 2014a;Pentland, 2012). Whereas previous research has shown that leaders play an important role regarding their followers' work engage-
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