Team Expectations Help New Members Succeed

Research has generally supported the idea of the "self-fulfilling prophecy" when it comes to starting a new job, in two ways:

• Newcomers who think they will perform well do things that help them to indeed perform well, and
• If a boss expects a newcomer to do well, he or she does things that help the newcomer succeed.

But does this hold true in a team environment? Two scientists surveyed 70 information technology project teams across the U.S. in three companies. In general the self-fulfilling prophecy worked, in this way:

1. A newcomer's prior experience influenced the expectations that team leaders and colleagues had for the new person.
2. Higher expectations led managers to give more complex work to the newcomer and raised the quality of his or her interactions with team members.
3. Complex work and good interactions increased the newcomer's sense of empowerment.
4. Also, the newcomer's self-expectations increased his or her sense of empowerment both directly and by improving interactions with team members.
5. Both higher sense of empowerment and higher team expectations improved the newcomer's performance.

Source: Chen, G., and R. Klimoski (03), "The Impact of Expectations on Newcomer Performance in Teams as Mediated by Work Characteristics, Social Exchanges, and Empowerment," Academy of Management Journal 46(5):591.