Multiteaming

Purpose

Multiple team membership (MTM) has become prevalent in project-based work. Mainly driven by efficiency reasons, most organizations rely on project-team structures with individuals being assigned to multiple projects simultaneously. Yet, an increasing number of project workers report that MTM leads to intensive pressure and stress, eventually resulting in poor well-being and burnout. While MTM is omnipresent in the workplace, research on MTM is still in its early stages. Little is known about the challenges and difficulties of working in multi-project teams. Thus, this research project aims to gain theoretical and empirical insight into the work-design-specific challenges of multi-project organizations and their consequences.

Approach

The first project within this research cluster aimed to identify MTM-specific stressors by conducting a literature review in the context of MTM research. Rooted in the transactional theory of stress and Dennis et al.'s (1988) team model, a conceptual framework of MTM-specific stressors was developed, providing an overarching view of the input, process, and stress-related outcome variables of MTM.
The second project addresses how sustainable human resource management (HRM) practices can contribute to stress reduction by uncovering and explaining strategies for mitigating stressful situations in multiteam work

Keywords

Multiteaming, multiproject work, stress, coping, sustainable HRM

Involved Persons

Yannik Trautwein, Lea Kocheise, Dr. Ellen Weber, Prof. Dr. Marion Büttgen

Publications

  • Trautwein, Y. (2023). Multiproject Work in Servitized Organizations – A Review and Framework of Stressors and Strains Emerging from Multiple Team Membership. In M. Bruhn & K. Hadwich (Hrsg.), Forum Dienstleistungsmanagement. Gestaltung des Wandels im Dienstleistungsmanagement: Band 2: Kundenperspektive – Anbieterperspektive – Mitarbeiterperspektive (1. Aufl., S. 547–572). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden; Imprint Springer Gabler. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-41815-1_21
  • Büttgen, M., Trautwein, Y., Kocheise, L. & Weber, E. (2023). Gestaltungsansätze für ein nachhaltiges Human Resource Management. PERSONALquarterly(03), 9–15.