How you speak up at work can affect whether you're picked for a team


Date:
December 4, 2021
Source:
Iowa State University
Summary:
Business leaders and management experts often encourage people to
speak up in the workplace. Suggesting a creative idea or a more
efficient way to work can help companies overcome challenges and
meet goals. But new research shows another, more subtle and often
overlooked form of speaking up has a big effect on the way work
gets done and how teams come together.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Business leaders and management experts often encourage people to speak
up in the workplace. Suggesting a creative idea or a more efficient way
to work can help companies overcome challenges and meet goals. But new
research shows another, more subtle and often overlooked form of speaking
up has a big effect on the way work gets done and how teams come together.


========================================================================== "What we say within a group, the ideas we suggest and the way we support others, signals something about who we are to our coworkers. It can
attract people to us or repel them," said Melissa Chamberlin, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Iowa State University,
and co-author of a paper recently published in Journal of Management.

In the paper, Chamberlin and her research team demonstrate how two
different ways of communicating work-related issues shape reputations and affect the formation of teams to complete short-term projects. They found people who use "supportive voice," which fuels trust and cooperation,
have a higher chance of being recruited to a team compared to those who
use a more task-oriented "challenging voice." Challenging voice pushes
back against the status quo and offers ideas for improvement. While it
has some downsides, such as perceived criticism or conflict, challenge
voice tends to signal an employee's competence or expertise. Chamberlin
said managers, especially in dynamic and fast-paced industries, often
value this communication behavior as something that can help teams
complete tasks efficiently and effectively.

"Supportive voice is still about speaking up in the workplace, but it's
looking at what's going well in the group or team. It might defend the
status quo by saying there's value in what the team is already doing,"
said Chamberlin.

Supportive voice signals someone's approachability and trustworthiness. It fosters strong interpersonal relationships, which Chamberlin said
affects a team's ability to communicate and coordinate efforts in order
to reach goals.

To understand the effects of the two communication behaviors on team
formation, the researchers collected data from a cohort of full-time, first-year Master of Business Administration students over a four-month
period. The students were periodically assigned to different teams
to complete projects and then asked to rate fellow team members' use
of challenging and supportive voice, quality of work, reputation and
trust. Near the end of the study, students were allowed to assemble into
teams without any direction from the MBA office.

The study results revealed students who ranked high on challenging
voice built a reputation for conducting high-quality work, but students preferred to work in teams with those who frequently used supportive
voice. Chamberlin said the results were surprising.

"Because challenging voice is the predominant form of speaking up we
encourage in classrooms and as managers, we thought it was going to be
strong driver of people selecting team members later. But as it turns
out, this more supportive voice that helps establish relationships and
a sense of trust amongst individuals in the group was more important," Chamberlin said.

The researchers pointed out that having both types of voice would be
ideal, but between the two, supportive voice was a stronger driver of
team formation.

Chamberlin said the paper's findings could help employees realize the
way they speak up can have a strong effect on informal teaming up at a
later point and help them move into leadership roles. As for managers, Chamberlin said the results could encourage them to foster and provide
space for more supportive voice by coaching this type of behavior and
rewarding employees who speak up supportively.

"There might be times that challenging voice reigns supreme
but other situations where supportive voice becomes more
critical for a team," said Chamberlin. "Supportive voicers
can keep teams together to make sure the work gets done." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Iowa_State_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Daniel W. Newton, Melissa Chamberlin, Cynthia K. Maupin, Jennifer D.

Nahrgang, Dorothy R. Carter. Voice as a Signal of Human and Social
Capital in Team Assembly Decisions. Journal of Management, 2021;
014920632110313 DOI: 10.1177/01492063211031303 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211204190835.htm

--- up 7 hours, 13 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)