This study examined team processes and
outcomes among 12 multi-university distributed project teams from 11
universities during
its early and late development stages over a
14-month project period. A longitudinal model of team interaction is
presented
and tested at the individual level to consider the
extent to which both formal and informal network connections—measured as
degree centrality—relate to changes in team
members’ individual perceptions of cohesion and conflict in their teams,
and their
individual performance as a team member over time.
The study showed a negative network centrality-cohesion relationship
with
significant temporal patterns, indicating that as
team members perceive less degree centrality in distributed project
teams,
they report more team cohesion during the last four
months of the project. We also found that changes in team cohesion from
the first three months (i.e., early development
stage) to the last four months (i.e., late development stage) of the
project
relate positively to changes in team member
performance. Although degree centrality did not relate significantly to
changes
in team conflict over time, a strong inverse
relationship was found between changes in team conflict and cohesion,
suggesting
that team conflict emphasizes a different but
related aspect of how individuals view their experience with the team
process.
Changes in team conflict, however, did not relate
to changes in team member performance. Ultimately, we showed that
individuals,
who are less central in the network and report
higher levels of team cohesion, performed better in distributed teams
over
time.