Learning in teams: Relationships between individual and team characteristics and the performance of multipliers

The continuous mutual transfer of knowledge and skills within work teams is increasingly important for organizational practice. According to the situational and experience-based approaches of applied learning research, certain individual and social prerequisites have to be met for successful learning in teams. In a field study at an automobile production site, it was investigated which personal characteristics of multipliers and which characteristics of teams are related to the performance of multipliers in 31 teams with 29 coworkers. Using multi-level analyses (HLM), the amount of variance explained by the predictor variables in teaching success of multipliers and learning success of coworkers was examined. Results showed that multipliers' conscientiousness and team cohesion were, related to teaching success of multipliers; extraversion and team cohesion were related to the learning success of coworkers. In closing, the scientific and practical implications for the investigation and promotion of work-based learning processes in teams are discussed