Predicting individual team member performance : the role of team competency, cognitive ability, and personality

Abstract

The prevalence of teams in organizations is a growing phenomenon. Successful teams have the potential of providing many benefits to both the individual and the organization. Competency based management may present human resource practitioners with an optimal method for selecting high-performing individuals. This thesis attempted to uncover the competencies associated with an effective team performance. In the first study, using the critical incident technique, eight competency-like domains representing individual team performance emerged: initiative, subject matter expertise, problem solving, communication, collaboration/cooperation, motivation of others, organization, and dedication. A competency-based questionnaire was created from these eight competency-like domains. A second study attempted to evaluate the construct validity of the scale. Factor and correlational analyses supported the existence of a single Global Competency factor underlying the eight domains found in Study I. The second study also demonstrated that the Global Competency factor was a better predictor of team performance than measures of the Big Five personality dimensions and IQ.