Confident, motivated, successful workgroups: Understanding the antecedents and outcomes of group potency

Group potency has been defined as the shared belief of a group that it will be effective in attaining positive work related outcomes (Guzzo, Yost, Campbell, & Shea, 1993). The purpose of this research study was to build on past research and develop a comprehensive, empirically tested model pertaining to the antecedents and outcomes of group potency. Of particular concern was gaining a higher understanding concerning the antecedents of potency, which could result in a framework for future efforts to enhance potency in specific groups. Specifically, this paper argued that the shared perceptions of group members are of primary importance in potency development, often exceeding the importance of objective measures of the group's abilities, skills, and accomplishments. It was also presented that these perceptions are biased and malleable. Transformational leadership and social identification are presented as substantially influencing how members perceive their group. A demographically diverse sample of 114 groups, comprised of 837 participating individuals from 3 organizations, was utilized to test hypotheses related to these variables, as well as outcome and contextual variables. Support was found for hypotheses predicting that transformational leadership and group race/sex similarity are positively related to group potency. Potency in turn was found to be a predictor of group performance. A hypothesis was partially supported concerning task interdependence moderating the relationship between group potency and group performance. This research study contributed to the literature by providing empirical support concerning the importance of group members' perceptions in potency development. Understanding the important role of these perceptions may enable organizations to provide training and interventions, whereby, potency levels may be enhanced within their groups. Furthermore, by finding support for the hypothesis that potency is positively related to group performance, this research study provided further evidence of the importance of group potency as a group level motivator. The ability to utilize the motivating power of group potency will become increasingly important as organizations continue to focus upon groups in attaining desired organizational outcomes.