We Succeeded, But Did I Learn? How Team Role Orientations Affect Individual‐Level Transfer of Team Training

Abstract

ABSTRACT An extensive body of evidence supports the benefits of team training on team outcomes, yet the extent to which individuals themselves benefit from such training remains largely underexplored. Drawing on role and self‐regulation theories, this study examines how team role orientations influence the extent to which team members acquire the targeted competencies of team training. We explain how team role orientations direct team member cognitive and behavioral resources in team training contexts, and team members’ specific role orientations can either aid or hinder individual learning outcomes. From a sample of 84 student teams ( N = 330) engaged in a simulation‐based team training program, we find that the Doer role orientation enhances taskwork knowledge and skill outcomes from team training, the Team Builder orientation enhances teamwork skill and knowledge outcomes, and the Organizer role orientation inhibits taskwork knowledge and skill and teamwork knowledge outcomes. We also hypothesize regulatory learning behavior (i.e., planning, assessing, and adjusting individual contributions to teams) as a key mediating mechanism that explains these effects and find supporting evidence as it relates to the Doer and Team Builder orientations. Further, we find support for the amplifying top‐down influence of team learning effectiveness on the relationships between Doer and Organizer orientations and learning outcomes. Our findings underscore the complexity of individual learning transfer in team training settings, emphasizing the need to consider team contexts, individual tendencies, and regulatory learning behaviors when designing team training interventions.