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How Is Team Membership Change Manifested in Collective Interactions? – Using Epistemic Network Analysis to Explore the Challenges of Contemporary Team Composition

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Advances in Quantitative Ethnography (ICQE 2021)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1312))

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Abstract

Work settings characterized by regular team membership changes, where employees often join and leave teams during a project, can lead to significant teamwork challenges. Previous research has focused widely on the individual and group level outcomes of this phenomenon. To date, however, little is known about how teams manage such frequent alterations. To address this, I draw on the anthropological notion of liminality, arguing that team membership change is transitional for individuals due to its uncertainty, and focus on the collective interactions during team meetings in a large Danish multinational corporation (MNC). Investigating the case of a virtual team, I applied Epistemic Network Analysis to explore the changes in the socioemotional- and task-related communication patterns between individuals, before and after a team membership change. Results show that the team’s communication has become more complex, as compared to the period before the change, with employees engaging in longer discussions, at the same time being more hesitant to express their opinions. Generally, these findings reflect the team’s adjustment to a new situation, and bring attention to the team practices related to team composition. Methodologically, this study extends the application of the Quantitative Ethnography to an organizational field of study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs Allé 4, 8210, Aarhus, Denmark

    Marta Jackowska

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  1. Marta Jackowska
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Correspondence to Marta Jackowska .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Andrew R. Ruis

  2. Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, USA

    Seung B. Lee

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Jackowska, M. (2021). How Is Team Membership Change Manifested in Collective Interactions? – Using Epistemic Network Analysis to Explore the Challenges of Contemporary Team Composition. In: Ruis, A.R., Lee, S.B. (eds) Advances in Quantitative Ethnography. ICQE 2021. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1312. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67788-6_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67788-6_20

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-67787-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-67788-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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