2019/01/08 by Michael Y. Lee, Melissa Mazmanian, Leslie Perlow +1 · 68 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Decision Sciences · Psychology · #Complex Systems and Decision Making #Computer science #Dynamics (music) #Epistemology #Interpersonal communication #Interpersonal relationship #Knowledge management #Management and Organizational Studies #Normative #Psychology #Reciprocity (cultural anthropology) #Scripting language #Social connectedness #Social psychology #Team Dynamics and Performance
paper · doi:10.5465/amj.2016.0685
published in Academy of Management Journal 63(1), 96-123 (Academy of Management)
openalex publication_date 2019/01/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
Despite well-accepted understanding that relational dynamics characterized by respect, openness, and connectedness are critical for healthy team functioning, we know little about how to foster such dynamics. Drawing on observation and interview data from an intervention that fostered positive change in the relational dynamics of a global distributed team, this paper theorizes the mechanisms that enabled a move toward positive relational dynamics. We find that the intervention brought about relational changes by not only creating spaces where the team could experiment with new forms of interaction, but also by utilizing “interaction scripts”—concrete guidelines for interaction that specify content parameters and participation rules. We establish that the combination of spaces and interaction scripts was critical for helping the team enact counter-normative forms of interpersonal sharing that led to the emergence of positive relational dynamics. While existing research has highlighted the importance of spaces for enabling positive relational change, this paper theorizes the complementary role that interaction scripts can play in the change process. These findings have implications for research on positive relationships at work, organizational change, and global and geographically dispersed teams.