The effect of team building on performance

In this article, meta-analytic integration of research examining the effects of team building on performance is reported. Overall, there was no significant effect of team building on per-formance. However, the effects of team building varied as a function of the type of operation-alization of performance: On objective measures of performance, there was a nonsignificant tendency for team building to decrease performance, whereas on subjective measures of per-formance, there was a significant, albeit small, tendency for team building to increase per-formance. Examination of the specific components of team building revealed that interven-tions emphasizing role clarification were more likely to increase performance, whereas interventions that emphasized goal setting, problem solving, or interpersonal relations were no more likely to render an increase or decrease in performance. Finally, the effects of team building decreased as a function of the size of the team. The discussion considers implica-tions of these effects of team building on performance. Harry, you weren’t kidding when you said this Florida trip would be no vacation! Building a group like us into a high-performing team takes really hard work! But I wouldn’t have missed it for worlds! —Jack, a participant in a team-building intervention (Shandler & Egan, 1996) Team building, also called team development or group develop-ment, is an extremely popular and common intervention. In fact