Psychological Safety and Team Information Exchange in Virtual Leadership Development
Advisor Information
Roni Reiter-Palmon
Location
UNO Criss Library, Room 225
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
6-3-2015 2:45 PM
End Date
6-3-2015 3:00 PM
Abstract
This study investigated a virtual leadership development program that used case-based learning. Specifically, this study evaluated the hypothesis that perceptions of team psychological safety positively relates to team information exchange, which in turn predicts learning. Emerging leaders were recruited across rural Nebraska and diverse groups of three or four people were created. Participants met six times over the course of eight months to discuss cases focusing on five leadership skills: problem construction, conceptual combination, idea evaluation, meeting effectiveness, and feedback delivery. Learning was assessed at the individual level using a pre- post test design such that pre-test scores were entered first as the covariate, and post-test scores were used as the dependent variable. Regression analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between psychological safety and team information exchange. However, both psychological safety and team information exchange had negative relationships with the post- scores. This suggests that although feeling more psychologically safe led to more exchange of information, these factors did not contribute to learning. A potential explanation for this is that the information exchanged was not related to the task or program materials. This study helps to fill the gaps in leadership development, and group dynamics research and also contributes to the growing field of virtual learning by exploring how an important emergent team state, psychological safety, affects the exchange of information, and ultimately the success of learning and developing key leadership skills.
Psychological Safety and Team Information Exchange in Virtual Leadership Development
UNO Criss Library, Room 225
This study investigated a virtual leadership development program that used case-based learning. Specifically, this study evaluated the hypothesis that perceptions of team psychological safety positively relates to team information exchange, which in turn predicts learning. Emerging leaders were recruited across rural Nebraska and diverse groups of three or four people were created. Participants met six times over the course of eight months to discuss cases focusing on five leadership skills: problem construction, conceptual combination, idea evaluation, meeting effectiveness, and feedback delivery. Learning was assessed at the individual level using a pre- post test design such that pre-test scores were entered first as the covariate, and post-test scores were used as the dependent variable. Regression analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between psychological safety and team information exchange. However, both psychological safety and team information exchange had negative relationships with the post- scores. This suggests that although feeling more psychologically safe led to more exchange of information, these factors did not contribute to learning. A potential explanation for this is that the information exchanged was not related to the task or program materials. This study helps to fill the gaps in leadership development, and group dynamics research and also contributes to the growing field of virtual learning by exploring how an important emergent team state, psychological safety, affects the exchange of information, and ultimately the success of learning and developing key leadership skills.