Reflections and Insights on Groups and Teams from McGrath Lifetime Achievement Award Winners: An Introduction

This essay introduces the special issue of Small Group Research that features essays from 10 winners of the Joseph E. McGrath Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Study of Groups. In our introductory essay, we briefly summarize the history of research on groups and teams, and we situate each of the essayists within that history. We describe the key themes across the essays, including the authors’ autobiographical journeys, new contributions made in some of the essays, and future challenges and recommendations for group researchers that were offered by the essayists. These essays provide fascinating summaries and insights into the professional and personal journeys of the authors. As a group, they highlight the progression of the science of groups and teams over the last 50 years.