The relationship between team mental models, interpersonal trust, and team performance in knowledge-based teams

This study examined the relationship between team mental models, interpersonal trust, and team performance in knowledge-based teams. It is widely assumed in the popular literature that the success of today's businesses in the knowledge economy is dependent upon the performance of teams. A closer look at the underlying assumptions inherent in the ambiguous concept of teams creates a compelling opportunity for better research. Although trust and the mental models team members share have been scrutinized in the academic literature, no studies have examined the possibility of a relationship between these variables and team performance.;This quantitative study surveyed 36 intact field-based teams to assess the relationship between trust, team mental models, and team performance. Individuals completed an online survey that used pairwise comparison to extract the structure of the team mental models measured in terms of task items and team items. Pathfinder network analysis was then used to determine the similarity and accuracy of team mental models. Trust and team performance measures were collected through a standard Likert scale. Trust was measured in terms of cognition-based and affect-based trust.;A significant relationship was found between team performance, interpersonal trust, and the components of team mental models that consist of taskwork accuracy, teamwork accuracy, and teamwork similarity. Trust, particularly affect-based trust, explained a significantly large amount of the variance in team performance. These findings advance our understanding of knowledge-based teams by revealing how trust and team mental models contribute to team performance.