The research behind effect
The web-based questionnaire effect measures 24 factors characterizing effective management teams. It was developed by professor Henning Bang (PhD) and organizational psychologist Thomas Nesset Midelfart, and it is based on research from the project entitled, “Effectiveness in Management Teams,” conducted at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway. The factors were identified through a comprehensive review of international research on management teams and other types of decision-making teams, together with the authors’ own research on more than 400 management teams (Bang, 2008, 2012; Bang, Fuglesang, Ovesen, & Eilertsen, 2010; Bang & Midelfart, 2010, 2019; Bang, Midelfart, Molly-Søholm, & Elmholdt, 2015; Bang & Øverland, 2009). The research behind the 24 factors is more comprehensively described in the article What Characterizes Effective Management Teams? A Research-based Approach (Bang & Midelfart, 2017) and in the book Effective Management Teams and Organizational Behavior: A Research-based Model for Team Development (Bang & Midelfart, in press).
The effect report
The 24 factors in effect are organized into four different categories:
(1) Input factors, which are relatively stable characteristics of the team and its environment. The five input factors measured are: team purpose, team tasks, team size, team composition, and reward systems.
(2) Process factors, which refer to how the team works. The twelve process factors measured are: pre-meeting preparation, meeting goals, focused communication, dialogue, task conflict, relationship conflict, political behavior, behavioral integration, team boundary-spanning, cross-functional collaboration, team learning, and team leadership.
(3) Emergent states, which are cognitive, motivational, and affective states that emerge from the team’s work processes. The three emergent states measured are: team psychological safety, team cohesion, and team culture.
(4) Output factors, which describe the different kinds of outcomes achieved by the team. The four output factors measured are: task performance, decision quality, decision implementation, and individual well-being and growth.
There are 99 items measuring the 24 scales, plus three open questions. Each scale consists of 2 to 7 items responded to on a 7-point Likert scale that ranges from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree). It normally takes 15 to 20 minutes to respond to all the items and questions in effect. The survey is currently available in English, Norwegian, and Swedish, and reports can be generated in English, French, German, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian.
The report includes the following: average and highest/lowest scores on the 24 factors and how the team scores compare to a reference group of other management teams; the ten highest and lowest scoring items; qualitative answers to the three open questions; frequency tables showing how the team members rate each of the 99 items within the 24 factors; and a set of recommendations for how to improve the team’s effectiveness.