Abstract
Objective. This paper wants to empirically test hypothesis that team leader's (who is the strongest determinant of communication climate and shared mental models within the team) higher frequency and quality of communication leads to higher performance.
Method. Hypothesis was tested on a sample of 237 leaders of sales teams from a large financial institution.
The team leaders were rated based on quality and frequency of their communication by their subordinates. Team leaders had to be in their positions at least for 1 year.
Standard sociomapping items with previously demonstrated reliability and validity were used to measure communication. Team performance was measured by average team member's annual revenue.
Results. Regression analysis showed positive effect of quality and frequency of team leader's communication on team performance.
Conclusions. From theoretical perspective, the paper follows up on studies investigating relationship between communication satisfaction and team performance.
Practical implications lie mainly in s interventions and other efforts to improve communication within organizations. Further, it highlights the necessity to consider managers' communicationrelated competencies during their selection and consecutive development.
Limitations. The main limitations of this study are its cross-sectional character and specificity of the sample (effect of intervening variables such as company culture cannot be excluded).