Creative project teams’ adaptive responses to task alterations at different points in time

Abstract How does a project team’s response to the timing of task alterations affect its receptiveness to these alterations? In addition, what role do creative team processes play in determining the team’s response? The purpose of the present research is to explore answers to these questions. We start our theoretical analysis with the assumption that creative project teams facing a deadline progress through varying levels of divergent and convergent team processes, manifesting in process-specific trajectories. In Study 1a, we empirically demonstrate these trajectories for 20 creative project teams. We then examine how creative project teams respond to task alterations at two times of heightened readiness—early or at the temporal midpoint of a team project (Study 1b). In a sample of 68 creative project teams, we find that optimal information integration requires teams to recalibrate some of those processes that are disturbed when a task alteration occurs. Specifically, midpoint (relative to early) intervention teams integrated more novel information when they engaged in idea implementation right after the task alteration, whereas early (relative to midpoint) intervention teams integrated more novel information when they engaged in problem formulation. Higher levels of information integration, in turn, predicted creative outcomes. We discuss implications for team creativity and team adaptation.