The Explication of Implicit Team Knowledge and Its Supporting Effect on Team Processes and Technical Innovations

A framework for the analysis of implicit team knowledge is developed based on action regulation theory and concepts of individual implicit knowledge. We argue that the explication and reflection on implicit knowledge in and of teams supports an individual understanding and a shared mental model of the task which in turn should enhance team innovation. In an experimental study, 48 students of mechanical engineering in 16 groups worked on a product development task. Experimental conditions were explication versus no explication and individual versus collective explication. Individual as well as collective explication enhanced the overall outcome quality, but not the originality of solutions. The positive effects of collective explication were stronger than the effects of individual explication. Group processes and contents of explication were in line with the assumption from action regulation theory that reflecting on goals and strategies facilitates performance of complex tasks.