A number of definitions are offered in the literature which emphasize the sharing, integrative, and reflective processes that constitute team learning. A selection of definitions published over the last three decades is provided here.
“An ongoing process of reflection and action characterized by asking questions, seeking feedback, experimenting, reflecting on results, and discussing errors or unexpected outcomes of actions” p. 353, Edmondson, 1999.
“As a process, group learning involves the activities through which individuals acquire, share and combine knowledge through experience with one another [...] evidence that group learning has occurred includes changes in knowledge, either implicit or explicit, that occur as a result of such collaboration” p. 370, Argote et al., 2001.
“The acquisition of knowledge, skills, and performance capabilities of an interdependent set of individuals through interaction and experience [...] a team-level property that captures the collective knowledge pool, potential synergies among team members, and unique contributions” p. 86, Kozlowski & Ilgen, 2006.
“Compilation of team-level processes that circularly generate change or improvement for teams, team members, organisations, etc. [...] it consists of changing combinations of different types of processes [...] it dynamically translates a complex body of influences from multiple levels into different types of outputs at multiple levels, which in turn influence team learning” p. 128, Decuyper et al., 2010.
“Team learning exists when all team members identify or interpret task-related knowledge from colleagues, explain their opinions based on their expertise with colleagues or synthesize different perspectives into better solutions” p. 1432, Zhang & Wang, 2021.
- Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. 10.2307/2666999
- Argote, L., Gruenfeld, D., & Naquin, C. (2001). Group learning in organizations. In M. E. Turner (Ed.), Groups at Work: Advances in Theory and Research (pp. 369–397). Psychology Press. 10.4324/9781315805986-17/group-learning-organizations-linda-argote-deborah-gruenfeld-charles-naquin
- Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Ilgen, D. R. (2006). Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and teams. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 7(3), 77–124. 10.1111/j.1529-1006.2006.00030.x
- Decuyper, S., Dochy, F., & Van den Bossche, P. (2010). Grasping the dynamic complexity of team learning: An integrative model for effective team learning in organisations. Educational Research Review, 5(2), 111–133. 10.1016/j.edurev.2010.02.002
- Zhang, X., & Wang, X. (2021). Team learning in interdisciplinary research teams: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(6), 1429–1455. 10.1108/JKM-07-2019-0372