The significance of trust in project teams : Exploring context-dependent antecedents and consequences of trust in a project team setting

Summary of the thesis In today's working life, a large part of the work is organized in projects carried out by project teams. The work is often associated with high uncertainty, time pressure and risk and the project team must solve complex tasks that require diverse skills and expertise. Multidisciplinary, cross-functional project teams create a high degree of interdependence and require continuous coordination, integration and collaboration to succeed. These factors emphasize the need for trust within the project team. However, projects are temporary and the relationships in the teams may be affected by this. Trust is about accepting vulnerability based on positive expectations of the actions of others and is often grounded in experience and assessment of the trustworthiness over time. This thesis demonstrates how prior relationships among team members influence the development of trust and how the level of trust in the team impacts knowledge sharing and performance. The research has been carried out among project teams within the construction industry in Norway, a traditional project-based industry. A qualitative case study of one project team and a quantitative survey among 31 project teams constitute the data material. The results indicate that prior relationships and shared experience of working together among some of the team members can positively influence the development of trust and collaboration in the project team and contribute to a positive spiral of trust. Positive relationships makes it easier to create good collaboration routines and help the team to work efficiently from the start. Furthermore, the findings show trust is positively related to knowledge sharing and team performance, but often indirectly. Trust affects knowledge sharing and performance by increasing the commitment. Trusting that their colleagues are both able to and willling to do their work makes team members eager to do whatever is needed to accomplish the project successfully, thus promoting knowledge sharing and team performance. This thesis shows that trust is significant for creating effective project teams. Leaders should consider the team composition and extend positive relationships as well as facilitate activities and structures that allow team members to demonstrate their competence, get to know each other and build trust