Examining Team Communication and Mutual Support as Drivers of Work Performance among Team Members

Abstract

This study examined team communication and mutual support as drivers of work performance among team members in the organization. The cross-sectional research design was used and with standardized  instruments, data were collected from 133 participants from manufacturing organizations consisting of 63.9% males and 36.1% females whose age ranged from 21-54 years with a mean age of 31.71(SD, 8.7). Work performance was grouped into task performance, contextual performance and counterproductive work behaviour. The hypotheses were tested with the simple regression analysis. Data analysis revealed that team communication positively predicted task performance (β = .56, p < 0.01) and contextual performance (β = .55, p < 0.01) while it negatively predicted counterproductive work behaviour (β = -.21, p < 0.05). Also, mutual support positively predicted task performance (β = .80, p < 0.01) and contextual performance (β = .80, p < 0.01) while it negatively predicted counterproductive work behaviour (β = -.17, p < 0.05). The study recommends that management should encourage employees to work together and also educate them on these key behaviours (communication and mutual support) to help enhance employee performance in the organization.