Title: Self-managed project teams consist of three key factors that influence their effectiveness: trust, understanding, and power

Authors: Simon Krause; Hana Stojanová; Viktoria Joy Behrens; Johannes Engelbert Hangl

Addresses: Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University Brno, Zemědělská 1665/1, Brno, 61300, Czech Republic ' Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University Brno, Zemědělská 1665/1, Brno, 61300, Czech Republic ' Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University Brno, Zemědělská 1665/1, Brno, 61300, Czech Republic ' Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University Brno, Zemědělská 1665/1, Brno, 61300, Czech Republic

Abstract: This paper explores the factors that impact trust, understanding, and power in self-managed teams. It utilises 15 expert interviews to confirm that these three factors are the primary influencing factors in self-managed teams and that there are no other factors. The study found that trust has the most substantial influence at 82.67%, followed by power at 81.33% and understanding at 80.67%. The interviewees' other influencing factors could be categorised under these three factors. Experts were selected based on their experience in the IT industry and with self-managed project teams. As a result, the study's findings can be generalised to the IT industry. The paper aims to provide insight into how these factors can be developed and enhanced to support self-managed teams.

Keywords: self-management; self-managed project teams; influence factors; trust; understanding; power; expert interviews.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPOM.2024.143167

International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 2024 Vol.16 No.4, pp.448 - 465

Received: 04 Mar 2023
Accepted: 05 Oct 2023
Published online: 05 Dec 2024 *

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