The Design Center at Iowa State University has an overhead view of interior design final project presentations. Christopher Gannon is a professor at Iowa State University.
People are often encouraged to speak up in the workplace. Suggesting a more efficient way to work can help companies overcome challenges. A new research shows that speaking up in a more subtle way has a big effect on how work gets done and how teams come together.
The way we support others and the ideas we suggest are signals something about who we are to our coworkers. "It can either attract or repel people, and it can be done in a number of ways," said Chamberlin, who is an assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Iowa State University.
Chamberlin and her research team show how two different ways of communicating work-related issues affect reputations and the formation of teams to complete short-term projects. People who use a supportive voice have a higher chance of being recruited to a team than people who use a challenging voice.
Challenging voice pushes back against the status quo. Challenge voice has some drawbacks, such as perceived criticism or conflict, but it tends to signal an employee's competence or expertise. Chamberlin said managers value communication behavior as something that can help teams complete tasks efficiently and effectively.
"Supportive voice is still about speaking up in the workplace, but it's looking at what's going well in the group or team." Chamberlin said it might defend the status quo by saying there's value in what the team is already doing.
Someone's approachability and trustworthiness is signaled by a supportive voice. Chamberlin said it affects a team's ability to communicate and coordinate efforts in order to reach goals.
The researchers collected data from a group of full-time, first-year Master of Business Administration students over a four-month period to understand the effects of two communication behaviors on team formation. The students were assigned to different teams to complete projects and then asked to rate the work of their fellow team members on a number of quality and reputation factors. The students were allowed to assemble into teams without being directed by the office.
Students who used supportive voice were more likely to work in teams with students who used high ranked challenging voice. The results were surprising.
"Because challenging voice is the main form of speaking up, we encourage in classrooms and as managers, we thought it was going to be strong driver of people selecting team members later." Chamberlin said that the more supportive voice that helps establish relationships and a sense of trust amongst individuals in the group was more important.
The researchers said that having both types of voice would be ideal, but between the two, supportive voice was a stronger driver of team formation.
Chamberlin said the paper's findings could help employees realize the way they speak up can have a strong effect on informal teaming up at a later point and help them move into leadership roles. Chamberlin said that the results could encourage managers to foster and provide space for more supportive voice by coaching this type of behavior and rewarding employees who speak up supportively.
Chamberlin said that challenging voice might be the best for a team but supportive voice is more important. "Supportive voicers can keep teams together to make sure the work gets done."
The paper was contributed to by researchers from the University of Iowa.
Daniel W.Newton and his co-authors wrote about Voice as a signal of human and social capital in team assembly decisions. There is a DOI for this.
The Journal of Management has information.
How you speak up at work can affect whether you're picked for a team.
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