Team creativity: Characteristics and processes in nascent, novice, and expert engineering teams

This research focused on the characteristics and processes of creativity as they exist in nine engineering teams of three skill levels: nascent, novice, and expert teams. American corporations emphasize the importance of innovation and creativity in their engineering teams but express challenges in keeping their teams creative. This study investigated what factors enhance creativity of the teams, what factors impede their creativity, and what common factors were shared among them. An exploratory, non-experimental, descriptive research design format was used for this study in which data was collected by an inductive survey instrument.;Based on the findings of this study, there were team creativity process differences among the three team categories. All three team categories unanimously depended on common factors of teamwork, knowledge/skills, and positive influences to work with ideas that led to creative solutions. Additionally, nascent teams relied on thinking outside the box and brainstorming to develop team creative output. Novice team utilized thinking outside the box and leadership to promote team creative output. Expert teams attributed leadership, and the training of each member as contributing factors to their team success, while de-emphasizing the practices of brainstorming and thinking outside the box. All teams collectively agreed that time management and traditional meetings were low rated factors in the generation of creative output. Moreover, negative influences or negative emotional components are ranked as the most limiting factor for team creativity at 80.7% by nascent teams, 75% by the novice team, and 100% by expert teams.;The conclusions from this research have led to the conception of the nascent-novice-expert (NNE) team creativity model, which illustrates overall steps of the team creativity process for the three categories of teams. The simpler syntax of the NNE model should be easier for team members to comprehend within a training curriculum.;Recommendations include that (a) novice teams mentor college nascent teams to improve team leadership and to gain training and knowledge for higher creativity; (b) novice teams seek expert team members as mentors to further their technical training; and (c) expert teams are supported with training resources they select to expand creativity beyond the team's expertise.