Distinguishing Between Taskwork and Teamwork Planning in Teams: Relations With Coordination and Interpersonal Processes

Planning in teams represents a critical process that lays the groundwork for effective team functioning. The current investigation examined whether emergent team planning can be meaningfully characterized in terms of a distinction between planning that focuses on taskwork and planning that focuses on teamwork. In Study 1, items written to reflect commonly identified indicators of team planning were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2, slightly modified items were provided to a separate sample, and a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. In Study 3, the relationships between the different forms of planning and other team processes (i.e., coordination, interpersonal processes) were examined in order to determine whether there are unique relationships for task-focused and team-focused planning. Results from the first 2 studies provided support for a 2-factor structure of team planning, whereas Study 3 found independent relationships for taskwork and teamwork planning with subsequent team processes. Both forms of planning also exhibited indirect relationships with team performance via the mediating role of subsequent team processes.