Work Engagement in Agile Teams: Extending Multilevel JD-R Theory

Abstract

Teams often fail to mobilize their resources effectively, which can undermine team engagement. Prominent work engagement theories, including Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, have not accounted for this conceptually. By taking a closer look at how teams can mobilize resources through their use of agile work practices (AWPs), we develop a multilevel extension of JD-R theory. First, we propose that agile taskwork (i.e., use of sprint planning and iterative development practices) contributes to team engagement, especially in teams working on complex tasks. Second, we argue that agile teamwork (i.e., frequency of stand-up and retrospective meetings) promotes team engagement only when team role conflict low. We test our hypotheses in a field study involving 110 teams (N = 694 employees) with multisource ratings of job demands and two different operationalizations of team engagement. Our findings demonstrate which AWPs contribute more (vs. less) strongly to team engagement. Moreover, results evidence the boosting principle of JD-R theory at the team-level by showing that resource mobilization through agile taskwork is most engaging in challenging contexts (i.e., high work complexity). We discuss the implications of these findings for JD-R theory and research on collective work engagement.