The relationship and differences between MBTI type, team skills and perceived team success in virtual and traditional teams

This study was an examination of factors that may have influenced a team member's perceived team success in both the virtual and traditional team environments. The researcher used Web-based versions of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Team Skills Questionnaire, and a Perceived Team Performance and Demographic Agreement Item Questionnaire. The survey instruments were used to explore conflict resolution, productivity and motivation, communication skills, and interpersonal team skills for virtual and traditional teams. Additionally, the effects of different personality types were examined as they relate to perceived team success.; The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 12.0 was utilized to analyze the data collected. Alpha was set to .05. Measures of central tendency were calculated to describe the sample. Analyses, including k/s test, nonparametric chi 2 tests, Independent samples t tests, Pearson's product moment correlations, and Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) were conducted to test for normality, skewness, and kurtosis, as well as to test for associations between the demographic characteristics and personality type, team skills, and perceived team success. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and multiple regressions were conducted to identify predictors of team success.; This study found that there is not an intuitive or logical connection between personality type and perceived team success. Moreover, this study shows that overall team skills are not a strong indicator of perceived team success on a virtual or traditional team. However, there are indications that personality type as well as productivity and motivation team skills affect perceived team success on a traditional team. Although it was hypothesized that personality type would be an indicator of perceived virtual team success, this study revealed that this was not the case.; The results of this study also indicate that the type of team is less important than a person's familiarity with the team. The overall implication of this study is that it is that if a person is comfortable and feels productive within each unique team, they will perceive themselves as more successful regardless of team type. This research confirms that team training is vital to a person's perceived team success.