Do Team Charters Help Team-Based Projects? The Effects of Team Charters on Performance and Satisfaction in Global Virtual Teams

Abstract

In a sample of 1,891 teams (8,556 students) who completed an eight-week international business consulting project, half of the teams developed a team charter, half did not. Teams with charters saw improved process performance metrics only at the forming stage of team development. They also reported higher conflict levels. However, more conflict did not negatively affect peer evaluations or team output quality, suggesting that such conflict was not entirely negative. Team charter use was not directly associated with output quality, measured as the final report's grade.However, team national diversity moderated the solution creativity presented in the team's final report. These findings suggest team charters may initially aid process improvement but not necessarily the quality of output. We propose that the difference between the two groups studied is essentially one of formal written contracting versus informal psychological contracting, defined as a set of unwritten expectations of team members with regard to team behaviors and goals. These two forms of contracting provide for equifinality (the same result) in performance over the lifecycle of a project. The study contributes to research on team charter use, particularly with respect to formal versus informal psychological contracting within the context of global virtual teams.

Team psychological contracts: Effects of gender and social comparison orientation

“…To the extent that implicit promises are not kept, individuals are less committed to the team (Coyle-Shapiro, 2002). Including an explicit discussion of perceived obligations early on and development of a shared team charter (Johnson et al, 2022; Sverdrup and Schei, 2015) or shared psychological contract (Laulié and Tekleab, 2016) as a project deliverable may help team members realize greater PC fulfillment (Locke and Latham, 2002) and remain more committed to the team. This study also looked at gender as a moderator of this relationship.…”

From the periphery to the centre: a bibliometric review of global virtual teams as a new ordinary workplace

“…As recently recognized by Stahl and Maznevski (2021) in the Journal of International Business Studies , the X-Culture project, which every year involves more than 1,000 GVTs in a controlled lab setting involving hundreds of business schools from every continent, represents an ideal environment to expand our knowledge about GVTs (Taras et al , 2013). Its cross-national longitudinal database is the largest globally for GVTs, and it recently shined a new light on the relationships between highly relevant and general theoretical constructs, such as the team member’s academic pedigree and the team member’s job performance (Taras et al , 2021), peer evaluations and team performance (Tavoletti et al , 2019), peer evaluations and individual efforts (Román-Calderón et al , 2021), cultural intelligence and performance (Richter et al , 2021) and team charters and performance (Johnson et al , 2021).…”

Benefits of individual preparation for team success: planning for virtual team communication, conflict resolution and belonging

“…The tools introduced in the training module were a team charter, communication plan and conflict resolution plan. These tools were identified as beneficial because each of these tools allows team members to set expectations, proactively plan for successful communication and to plan for handling conflict (Johnson et al , 2022). Proactively developing a team charter to establish norms within the context of performance strategies, before engaging in team tasks, has been proven to facilitate improved team processes, increased positive team outcomes (including communication, cohesion and support) and enhanced participant satisfaction (Johnson et al , 2022).…”

“…These tools were identified as beneficial because each of these tools allows team members to set expectations, proactively plan for successful communication and to plan for handling conflict (Johnson et al , 2022). Proactively developing a team charter to establish norms within the context of performance strategies, before engaging in team tasks, has been proven to facilitate improved team processes, increased positive team outcomes (including communication, cohesion and support) and enhanced participant satisfaction (Johnson et al , 2022). Developing a charter including elements such as operating guidelines, behavioral norms and performance management processes, in conjunction with teams’ periodical review and revision of the charter as needed, results in increased quality of team activities (Hunsaker et al , 2011).…”