Political Skill, Trust, and Efficacy in Teams

This study contributes to the team literature by examining the role of political skill in predicting team efficacy and trust in team. Political skill, frequently understood as a social skill at work, is argued to be a valuable resource not only at the individual level, but also for the teams. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) and data from 525 students, organized into 115 teams, we demonstrate that political skill at the individual level shapes individual perceptions of team efficacy and trust in team. Furthermore, both the level and the composition of political skill within the team are found to be critical for these team emergent states, albeit they play out differently for team members who are high vs. low in political skill. Our results suggest that high team political skill acts as a valuable team resource attenuating the negative effect of insufficient political skill of an individual. High levels and homogeneity of team political skill are found to be particularly critical for the low politically skilled team members. Contributions to theory and research, strengths and limitations, directions for future research, and implications for practice are discussed.