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Team Monitoring/Backup Behavior

Definition

"Assisting team members to perform their tasks. Assistance may occur by (1) Providing a teammate verbal feedback or coaching, (2) Helping a teammate behaviorally in carrying out action, or (3) Assuming and completing a task for a teammate.” (Marks et al., 2001, p. 363)

Key References

  • Porter, C. O. L. H., Hollenbeck, J. R., Ilgen, D. R., Ellis, A. P. J., West, B. J., & Moon, H. (2003). Backing up behaviors in teams: the role of personality and legitimacy of need. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(3), 391–403. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.3.391
    • Analyzed the legitimacy of the backup behavior and the backup behavior itself separately, used backup behaviors as the process step in their IPO model connecting learning orientation to efficacy & commitment but found a direct effect rather than a mediating effect, backup behavior was positively related to learning orientation.
  • Porter, C. J. (2005). Goal Orientation: Effects on Backing Up Behavior, Performance, Efficacy, and Commitment in Teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 811–818. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.4.811
    • Observed a significant mediating effect of the legitimacy of the backup behavior on the relationship between backup giver personality (Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability) and the execution of backing up behaviors, evaluated backup behavior frequency and manipulated legitimacy.
  • De Jong, B. A., & Elfring, T. (2010). How Does Trust Affect The Performance Of Ongoing Teams? The Mediating Role Of Reflexivity, Monitoring, And Effort. The Academy of Management Journal, 53(3), 535–549. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25684335
    • Proposed and tested a conceptual model connecting team-level trust to performance through reflexivity, monitoring, and effort, in the final model (all processes included) team monitoring and team effort were both significant mediators but reflexivity was not a significant mediator, Created own measure included in article.

Key Measurements

  • Back-up behavior frequency is often calculated using guidelines in Porter et al., 2003 and rated by SMEs.

Recent Articles

  • Kolbe, M., Grote, G., Waller, M. J., Wacker, J., Grande, B., Burtscher, M. J., & Spahn, D. R. (2014). Monitoring and talking to the room: Autochthonous coordination patterns in team interaction and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(6), 1254–1267. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037877
    • Examined patterns of team member monitoring in higher and lower performing action teams in a health care environment.
    • Found that teams did not differ in frequency of team member monitoring or talking to the room frequency.
  • Li, N., Zhao, H. H., Walter, S. L., Zhang, X.-a., & Yu, J. (2015). Achieving more with less: Extra milers’ behavioral influences in teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(4), 1025–1039. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000010
    • Extended team research based on how an "extra miler" team member can affect team processes.
    • Reported that the behaviotal influence of the extra miler on team monitoring and backup processes are contigent on the team member having a central position within the team.
  • Schmidtke, J. M., & Cummings, A. (2017). The effects of virtualness on teamwork behavioral components: The role of Shared Mental Models. Human Resource Management Review, 27(4), 660–677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2016.12.011
    • Proposed that as virtualness of teams increases the team's shared mental models become more complex.
    • Found that increased complexity limits the effects of teamwork behaviors, including mutual behavior monitoring.