The Dynamical Relation Between Individual Needs and Group Performance: A Simulation of the Self-Organising Task Allocation Process

Team performance can be considered a macro-level outcome that depends on three sets of micro-level factors: individual workers contributing to the task, team composition, and task characteristics. For a number of reasons, the complex dynamics between individuals in the task allocation process are difficult to systematically explore in traditional experimental settings: the motivational dynamics, the complex dynamics of task allocation processes, and the lack of experimental control over team composition imply an ABM-approach being more feasible. For this reason, we propose an updated version of the WORKMATE model that has been developed to explore the dynamics of team performance. In doing so, we added Deci and Ryan’s SDT theory, stating that people are motivated by three psychological needs, competence, autonomy, and belongingness. This paper is aimed at explaining the architecture of the model, and some first simulation runs as proof of concept. The experimental results show that: 1) an appropriate motivation threshold will help the team have the lowest performance time; 2) the time needed for the task allocation process is related to the importance of different motivations; 3) highly satisfied teams are more likely composed of members valuing autonomy.