To read this content please select one of the options below:

The four-phase team adaptation process: a first empirical investigation

Eleni Georganta (Chair of Research and Science Management, Technical University of Munich, München, Germany)
Katharina G. Kugler (Chair for Economic and Organizational Psychology, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, München, Germany)
Julia A.M. Reif (Chair for Economic and Organizational Psychology, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, München, Germany)
Felix C. Brodbeck (Chair for Economic and Organizational Psychology, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, München, Germany)

Team Performance Management

ISSN: 1352-7592

Article publication date: 2 November 2020

Issue publication date: 16 March 2021

382

Abstract

Purpose

Several theoretical models have been developed to describe the process of successful team adaptation. Testing the models through empirical research is lacking. This study aims to empirically examine the way teams adapt to unexpected or novel circumstances and investigate the four-phase team adaptation process (i.e. situation assessment → plan formulation → plan execution → team learning), as proposed by Rosen et al. (2011).

Design/methodology/approach

To test the positive relationship between the four team adaptation phases and their suggested sequence, a cross-sectional field study was conducted. Data were collected from 23 teams participating during an 8-week team project.

Findings

Results from random intercept models confirmed that the team adaptation process consisted of four phases that were positively related to each other. As expected, plan formulation mediated the positive relationship between situation assessment and plan execution. However, team learning was independently related to all three previous phases, and not only to situation assessment as theory suggests.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is one of the first attempts to test the theoretical model of the team adaptation process presented by Rosen et al. (2011). Findings illustrated that the team adaptation process is not a simple four-phase sequence, but it constitutes four dynamic phases that are strongly interrelated to each other.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a research grant from the German Research Foundation (SFB 768).

Citation

Georganta, E., Kugler, K.G., Reif, J.A.M. and Brodbeck, F.C. (2021), "The four-phase team adaptation process: a first empirical investigation", Team Performance Management, Vol. 27 No. 1/2, pp. 66-79. https://doi.org/10.1108/TPM-01-2020-0007

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles