The Impacts of Team Listening and Unscheduled Meetings on Team Coordination

We examined the impacts of the team listening environment and the frequency of team communication on team coordination in business environments. While there is a long history of examining listening on an individual and interpersonal level in communication research, the construct of a Team Listening Environment (TLE) was only recently developed. We surveyed 233 full-time working professionals, including executives, mid-level managers, and entry-level managers. Using multiple regression analysis, we found that a team listening environment is the single most important contributor to team coordination. We also found that the frequency of unscheduled meetings increased team coordination but that the frequency of scheduled meetings did not increase team coordination. Other factors such as length of employment with current employer, frequency of other forms of communication, age, and gender did not impact team coordination.