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The relationship between variation in time perspectives and collaborative performance is scarcely explored, and even less is known about the respective mechanisms that lead to varying task performance. Thus, we aim to further the literature on time perspectives and collaborative performance, shedding light on the underlying behavioral patterns.

We report a quasi-experiment analyzing the impact of past, present and future orientation variation in dyads (N = 76) on their quantitative and qualitative performance when confronted with a simple incentivized creative task with constraints. Subsequently, we offer a qualitative analysis of comments given by the participants after the task on the collaboration.

Results indicate that a dyad's elevation of past orientation and diversity in future orientation negatively affect collaborative performance. At the same time, there is a positive effect of elevation of future orientation. The positive effect is driven by clear communication and agreement during the task, while the negative effect arises from work sharing and complementation.

This study provides insights for organizations on composing individuals regarding their temporal focus for collaborative tasks that should be executed rapidly and require creative solutions.

Our study distinguishes by considering the composition of past, present and future time perspectives in dyads and focuses on a creative task setting. Moreover, we explore the mechanisms in the dyads with a substantial elevation of/diversity in future orientation, leading to their stronger/weaker performance.

The paper reports on a research project exploring the change in the organizational context of communicators and communication units in higher education and research institutions (HERIs), the importance of informal processes within their daily work and the great diversity of expectations communicators have to tackle.

Based on a literature review, a mixed-methods study combining expert interviews with 54 German HERI heads of communication units, an online-survey and a document analysis of organizational characteristics was conducted. Findings were validated in four focus groups.

The study illuminates the impact of organizational and operational structures of HERIs on communicators and their boundary spanning activities. Due to varying expectations of stakeholders, communicators constantly have to switch roles. Members of HERIs' executive boards affect status and working conditions for communicators in the organization.

Interviews with other HERI actors, especially members of the executive board, are proposed to get more thorough insights into the organizational context of HERIs and the mutual expectations of different internal stakeholders.

Insights from the project may help HERI actors to reflect their organizational context and to identify potentially contentious structures or processes.

Communicating science sometimes clashes with complex organizational and operational structures. Despite the “organizational turn” in HERI research, there is a lack of data on the relation between communicators, their communication units and the larger organizational context. The exploratory study addresses this gap.