Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2009
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Varied Experience, Team Familiarity, and Learning: The Mediating Role of Psychological Safety

By: Bradley R. Staats, Francesca Gino and Gary P. Pisano
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:34
ShareBar

Abstract

Prior work examining the relationship of varied experience (i.e., the concurrent completion of multiple tasks) and learning by groups finds inconsistent results. We hypothesize that team familiarity, i.e, individuals' prior shared work experience, may help explain this difference, as familiar teams may be more effective than unfamiliar teams at using the knowledge gained from the concurrent completion of multiple tasks. A sense of psychological safety may be one reason that team familiarity could aid in the process of team learning. In an experimental study, we find that familiar teams learn at a faster rate than unfamiliar teams. Additionally, we find that team familiarity leads to the development of psychological safety and that the relationship between team familiarity and team learning is mediated by psychological safety. By separately examining task variety, team familiarity, and psychological safety, our work offers new insights and direction for the study of learning in teams.

Keywords

Experience and Expertise; Learning; Performance Effectiveness; Groups and Teams; Social Psychology; Familiarity

Citation

Staats, Bradley R., Francesca Gino, and Gary P. Pisano. "Varied Experience, Team Familiarity, and Learning: The Mediating Role of Psychological Safety." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10-016, August 2009. (Revised May 2010, previously titled "Repetition of Interaction and Learning: An Experimental Analysis.")

About The Authors

Francesca Gino

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

Gary P. Pisano

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • August 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Boston Beer Company: Sustaining a Culture for Innovation and Growth

    By: Gary P. Pisano
    • August 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Institutionalized Entrepreneurship: Flagship Pioneering

    By: Gary Pisano and Francesca Gino
    • July 2022
    • Faculty Research

    FIJI Water: Carbon Negative? (Abridged)

    By: Michael W. Toffel, George Serafeim, Francesca Gino, Stephanie Van Sice and Tom Quinn
More from the Authors
  • Boston Beer Company: Sustaining a Culture for Innovation and Growth By: Gary P. Pisano
  • Institutionalized Entrepreneurship: Flagship Pioneering By: Gary Pisano and Francesca Gino
  • FIJI Water: Carbon Negative? (Abridged) By: Michael W. Toffel, George Serafeim, Francesca Gino, Stephanie Van Sice and Tom Quinn
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College