Single versus multiple project teams and individual performance: Do they ask for different leadership behaviors?

• Published in: International journal of project management Vol. 42; no. 2; p. 102563
• Main Authors: Kenda, Renata, Meslec, Nicoleta, Oerlemans, Leon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2024
• Subjects: Boundary-spanning; Charisma; Individual performance; Leadership; Multiple project team membership; Individual performance; Charisma; Leadership; Multiple project team membership; Boundary-spanning
• ISSN: 0263-7863; 1873-4634
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2024.102563

•Multiple team members require a distinct leadership approach.•Multiteamers perform good when exposed to boundary spanning leadership.•Charismatic leadership is related to high performance in single team settings. Multiple project team membership is a prevalent phenomenon in modern organizational life. However, is any leadership behavior in such a setting beneficial to individual team members' performance? Our study suggests that working in a multiple project team setting requires particular types of leadership. In an experimental design, we manipulated charismatic and boundary-spanning leadership behaviors in single and multiple team project settings and we studied their effects on project members’ performance. When workers are part of a single team, charismatic leadership enhances their performance to a greater extent than a boundary spanning leader. When members are part of two project teams concurrently, boundary-spanning leadership behavior becomes more beneficial for individual performance compared to charismatic leadership. The main theoretical contribution lies in the insight that different organizational project forms ask for different leadership behaviors to nurture individual performance. Practically, (future) project leaders must be prepared for operating in different project settings.