Examining the Prospective Relationship Between Communication Network Structure and Task Cohesion and Team Performance

It has been reported in past research that information exchange at the individual and team level (i.e., communication network structure) is associated with higher perceived task cohesion and team performance. The current study extended these findings to intact sport teams and tested these relationships across time. Competitive basketball athletes (N = 133, k = 15; M-age = 27.4, SD = 7.5 years) completed measures of information exchange with teammates during a game (peer nominations using social network analysis) and task cohesion. Performance was collected using objective winning percentage. A prospective design across the first half of a competitive season was used. Controlling for early season perceptions of task cohesion, interacting with a higher number of teammates, and higher collective information exchange at the team level at early season significantly predicted later task cohesion perceptions (n = 70; pseudo R-2 = .49). Using a multilevel model, the overall variance accounted for was captured at both the individual (42%) and team (7%) level. In a second analysis, a hierarchical regression controlling for early season team performance found that information exchange of the team as a whole at early season significantly predicted team performance (n = 109; R-adj(2) = .48, p < .001). These results highlight a pattern of relationships between information exchange and both task cohesion and team performance consistent with past theorizing. In terms of uniqueness, specific aspects of information exchange (i.e., individual vs. team level network structure) differed for each dependent variable.