Autonomy is a ubiquitous team design feature, which is purported to relate positively to team effectiveness. However, the theoretical link between team autonomy and team effectiveness is not well understood, and previous studies have found inconsistent relations between them. We aim to resolve this incomplete understanding by examining “why” autonomy relates to team effectiveness, “what” aspects of team effectiveness are affected by team autonomy, and “when” the relations vary. To do so, we investigated task- and relationship-focused team functioning as mediators, expanded the construct of team effectiveness beyond just team performance to include attitudes, and tested the moderating effects of task routineness and interdependence. Our meta-analyses based on 415 effect sizes from 69 studies conducted on approximately 6,035 teams revealed that team autonomy positively relates to both task- and relationship-focused team functioning. The results showed significant indirect effects of autonomy on both team performance and attitudes via both types of team functioning. Task routineness weakened the effect of team autonomy on task-focused functioning and, ultimately, on team performance and attitudes, while it did not change the effect on relationship-focused functioning. The influence of team autonomy did not vary by the level of task interdependence. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

中文翻译：

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让团队坐在驾驶座上：关于团队自主权对团队效率的影响是什么、原因和时间的元分析

自治是一种无处不在的团队设计功能，据称它与团队效率正相关。然而，团队自主性和团队效率之间的理论联系并没有得到很好的理解，并且之前的研究发现它们之间存在不一致的关系。我们的目标是通过检查“为什么”自治与团队效率相关、团队效率的“什么”方面受团队自治影响以及“何时”关系会发生变化，从而解决这种不完整的理解。为此，我们调查了以任务和关系为中心的团队作为中介的功能，将团队有效性的构建扩展到团队绩效之外，包括态度，并测试了任务常规性和相互依赖的调节作用。我们的荟萃分析基于来自 69 项研究的 415 个效应量，对大约 6 项研究进行，035 团队透露，团队自主权与以任务和关系为中心的团队运作正相关。结果表明，自主性通过两种类型的团队运作对团队绩效和态度都有显着的间接影响。任务常规性削弱了团队自主性对以任务为中心的功能以及最终对团队绩效和态度的影响，但它并没有改变对以关系为中心的功能的影响。团队自主性的影响不因任务相互依赖程度而异。讨论了理论和实践意义。任务常规性削弱了团队自主性对以任务为中心的功能以及最终对团队绩效和态度的影响，但它并没有改变对以关系为中心的功能的影响。团队自主性的影响不因任务相互依赖程度而异。讨论了理论和实践意义。任务常规性削弱了团队自主性对以任务为中心的功能以及最终对团队绩效和态度的影响，但它并没有改变对以关系为中心的功能的影响。团队自主性的影响不因任务相互依赖程度而异。讨论了理论和实践意义。