Emergent Leadership and Team Effectiveness on a Team Resource Allocation Task

Team communication patterns on the Team Resource Allocation Problem (TRAP) were evaluated to determine characteristics of leaders and elements of effective team performance. Talking frequencies and durations and types of verbalizations (commands, suggestions, etc.) of team members during TRAP performances were used as indices of leadership. Individual background information and task/setting features were assessed to see how they relate to leadership behavior. Team characteristics and communication patterns were related to team performance scores under high and low time pressure to evaluate team effectiveness. Results indicated that teams with computer-experienced members and teams which were given strategies for doing the task performed better. Older people, people with computer experience, and men emerged as leaders in giving suggestions and issuing commands. Keywords: Emergent leadership; Team performance; Communication; Leader behavior; Group dynamics; Group composition.