Team composition refers to the overall mix of characteristics among people in a team, which is a unit of two or more individuals who interact interdependently to achieve a common objective. It is based on the attributes among individuals that comprise the team, in addition to their main objective.
Team composition is usually either homogeneous, in which all members are the same, or heterogeneous, in which team members all contain significant differences. It has also been identified as a key factor that influences team performance.Barbara Senior, Stephen Swailes, (2004) "The dimensions of management team performance: a repertory grid study", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 53 Iss: 4, pp.317 - 333 It factors in the individual attributes of team members (e.g. skill, experience, and ability) and how these contributions can potentially combine to dictate overall performance outcomes for the team. In the past decade, research on team effectiveness has burgeoned as teams have become increasingly common in organizations of all kinds.
Research conducted on this topic has focused on aggregated member characteristics, member heterogeneity and team size as categories associated with team composition. The fashion in which a team is configured has a strong influence on team processes and the outcomes that the team achieves.Deep-level composition variables as predictors of team performance: A meta-analysis. Bell, Suzanne T. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 92(3), May 2007, 595-615 The main outcomes associated with team performance can be classified mostly as performance outcomes (overall quality/precision of work produced, etc.) internal member outcomes (group cohesion, etc.) and behavioral outcomes (absenteeism, etc.).
Attributes
Team size The preferred team size has a significant impact on team sport.Moreland, Ricgchard L., and John M. Levine. "Problem identification by groups."Group process and productivity (1992): 17-47. Team size is determined by the original purpose for the team, the individual expectations for the members of the team, the roles that the team members need to play, the amount of cohesiveness and inter-connectivity optimal for team performance and the functions, activities and overall goals of the team.
While the size of a team is dependent upon many variables, the concept of "ideal" team size also varies. A variety of recommendations are easily found in multiple research studies, but these types of recommendations are difficult to evaluate, because they are often based on anecdotal evidence rather than empirical evidence. However, it is difficult to determine what constitutes appropriate team size from empirical research. Some research suggests that size has a curvilinear relationship with effectiveness such that too few or too many members reduces performance,Nieva, Veronica F., Edwin A. Fleishman, and Angela Rieck. Team dimensions: Their identity, their measurement and their relationships. ADVANCED RESEARCH RESOURCES ORGANIZATION BETHESDA MD, 1985. whereas other studies have found team size to be unrelated to performance or increasing team size actually improves performance without limit.
These differing recommendations and results are likely due to the fact that appropriate team size is dependent on the task and the context in which the team operates. For example, larger teams may have access to more resources, such as time, energy, money, and expertise, that may not only facilitate team performance on more difficult tasks but also can provide more "slack" if environmental conditions worsen. However, larger teams can also experience coordination problems that interfere with performanceBell, Bradford S., and Steve WJ Kozlowski. "Collective Failure: The Emergence, Consequences, and Management of Errors in Teams." Errors in Organizations (2011): 113. and motivation losses caused by a dispersion of responsibility. Overall, the question of the "optimal" group size is a complex one and future research is needed to accurately determine the impact of team size given specific team contingencies, such as the nature of the team task.
Homogeneous vs. heterogeneous Homogeneous teams may perform better due to similarities in experience and thought, while heterogeneous teams may perform better due to diversity and greater ability to take on multiple roles. For example, homogeneous groups displayed better initial performance than heterogeneous groups, but these effects dissipated across time and heterogeneous groups later performed better than more homogeneous groups.Watson, Warren E., Kamalesh Kumar, and Larry K. Michaelsen. "Cultural diversity's impact on interaction process and performance: Comparing homogeneous and diverse task groups." Academy of management journal 36.3 (1993): 590-602. Members of demographically diverse teams are likely to differ to a greater extent in their interpretations of the team’s goals and/or the divergent ideas for an adequate approach to implement strategy than members of demographically homogeneous groups. These terms, however, must be given a framework, as a team could be homogeneous for some characteristics and heterogeneous for others. The importance placed on team design derives from the need to align a team's composition with organizational goals and resources.Kozlowski, Steve WJ, and Daniel R. Ilgen. "Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and teams." Psychological science in the public interest 7.3 (2006): 77-124. Research on team composition has suggested that homogeneous teams are more satisfied and experience more positive reactions, while heterogeneous teams experience enhanced team creativity and also bring a wider variety of solutions to a given problem. However, external factors are important to consider when deciding on which type of team to compose for completing any certain objective. For example, research has shown that homogeneous teams can become more creative if properly incentivized to do so, while heterogeneous teams can discover similarities among themselves after working together that can allow them to develop greater team cohesion as time passes. Furthermore, homogeneous organizational teams in terms of age, race and gender are hypothesized to report less conflict as compared to heterogeneous organizational teams. For these reasons, demographically diverse teams are likely to experience more interpersonal incompatibilities and disagreements about their tasks and team processes than demographically homogeneous teams.
Faultlines Faultlines concern the attributes of several team members simultaneously and mirror the structure of diversity within a team. The strength of a faultline indicates the level of similarity within potential subteams and its width the extent of dissimilarity between them.Lau, Dora C., and J. Keith Murnighan. "Demographic diversity and faultlines: The compositional dynamics of organizational groups." Academy of Management Review 23.2 (1998): 325-340. A group faultline depends on the compositional dynamics of multiple attributes that can potentially subdivide a group and they increase in strength as more attributes are highly correlated. For example, a mixed team of men and women would have an imaginary split between the two genders. When a team is in its initial stages of forming, members may use demographic traits, such as gender, to place themselves into a sub-team.
If the team’s characteristics are highly correlated, faultlines become stronger, increasing the likelihood that sub-teams will develop.Molleman, Eric. "Diversity in demographic characteristics, abilities and personality traits: do faultlines affect team functioning?." Group decision and Negotiation 14.3 (2005): 173-193. Faultlines, regardless of their origin, are likely to impair team functioning because individuals begin to create more interpersonal connections within the sub-team than with the team as a whole. In severe cases, the members of a sub-team may feel like the split is irreconcilable and break away completely from the team or organization.Dyck, Bruno, and Frederick A. Starke. "The formation of breakaway organizations: Observations and a process model." Administrative Science Quarterly 44.4 (1999): 792-822.
Demographic traits Team diversity refers to the distribution of personal attributes across members of an organizational work team. The diversity of member composition in organizational teams has generated considerable interest because of its theoretical and practical importance in the study of task-focused teams in organizations. One facet of these compositional attributes reflects demographic and work-related diversity among individuals, making it a relevant area for further understanding of inputs that affect team functioning, such as experimenting, admitting mistakes and seeking feedback. Diversity of age, gender, and race are considered to be the most important demographic factors resulting from team composition.
Surface-level diversity reflects differences that are more readily observable (e.g., race, gender). Deep-level diversity reflects differences that are less visible (e.g., personality, values). The distinction between these two types of surface- and deep-level attributes is important because demographic attributes may not be as relevant to a team’s given task, but they shape members’ perceptions and behaviors.Simons, Tony, Lisa Hope Pelled, and Ken A. Smith. "Making use of difference: Diversity, debate, and decision comprehensiveness in top management teams." Academy of management journal 42.6 (1999): 662-673.
The effect of diversity on team outcomes is likely to depend on multiple factors.Argote, Linda, and Joseph E. McGrath. "Group processes in organizations: Continuity and change." International review of industrial and organizational psychology 8.1993 (1993): 333-389. First, the effects of diversity probably depend on the nature of the team’s task. Second, the effects of diversity may depend on the particular outcomes studied. Research seems to suggest that diversity may have a positive effect on performance, but a more negative effect on behavioral outcomes, such as team member turnover. The inconsistency of the results of research on the impact of diversity in teams on team functioning is due to the focus of most studies on a single characteristic.
Age
The ages of individual team members can have considerable effects on the success of a team. As tenure with an organization and age increase, so can performance. Older individuals may contribute more professional expertise, years of experience, and gathered knowledge.Hess, Thomas M., et al. "The impact of stereotype threat on age differences in memory performance." The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 58.1 (2003): P3-P11. However, older team members also tend to be less willing to adapt to evolving work environments and are less likely to implement innovative strategies, preferring instead to stick to tried-and-true methods.
Gender Gender is another important factor of demographic team composition. Men and women differ in their levels of conformity, preference of power distribution, and behavioral norms. In a dictator game setting, it has been found that groups are more generous and equalitarian when women are the majority. They also find that the most generous groups are those with two men and one woman. Another implication of this phenomenon is the positive relationship that exists between gender diversity in boardrooms and company performance. However, reverse causality is a pervasive problem in these studies, because companies that perform better are quite likely to be companies that also focus more on the gender diversity of their boards.
Race