Impacts of Interpersonal Trust on Team Performance: A Case Study in
Electrical Engineering Practical Training Course
Abstract
Contribution: The study discusses the relationship between interpersonal
trust and team performance in an exploratory way. The empirical data is
collected from students in Electrical Engineering Practice Training
Course classes to evaluate their team performance.
Background: Interpersonal trust within a team plays a critical role in
solving problems and enhancing group performance effectiveness.
Research Question: Does interpersonal trust within a team have an impact
on team performance? Can interpersonal trust between teammates be
improved?
Design/Approach: This research presents a case study of 132 electrical
engineering university students in China. The students worked in teams
completing six simulation experiments in a semester.
Findings: The teams always with permanent teammates had the highest
level of interpersonal trust and performed the best and the teams always
with tentative teammates had the lowest level of trust interpersonal
trust and performed worse and worse while the teams whose members were
fixed by the instructor increased their interpersonal trust quickly and
performed better and better over time.
Conclusions: The higher the interpersonal trust within a team, the
better the team performance; low initial interpersonal trust within a
team can be promoted through intervention.