Team Formation: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Collaborative activities require the formation of team(s), whose members may have weak or strong ties to each other, depending on the task to be completed. Team formation is a time consuming, complex, critical and essential process in the life cycle and development of the team, especially when the list of participants is disputed. To enhance learning and intellectual development in a team, it is important to select individuals based on specific prerequisites and create an environment that fosters genuine and effective interactions. However, the success of the team is not always guaranteed, and inappropriate team formation can lead to discouragement and hindered learning. As a result, researchers are exploring various clustering models and methods using best practices and other approaches to improve team formation and overcome these challenges. The process and the techniques used to form a team can vary depending on various factors, such as member characteristics, attributes, personalities, task, or context. However, despite the importance of team formation, there is no up-to-date comprehensive and systematic study to investigate and analyze its important techniques. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive, detailed, systematic study, and to survey the most recent literature on team formation algorithms/techniques/mechanisms. This paper presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of recently published work investigating the team formation process, attributes, and techniques. Out of the 640 papers selected for review, 103 pass initial screening and accepted as papers related to team formation, and after a careful analysis, 30 papers meet the mandatory requirements/criteria defined in our protocol, using a specific selection and quality assessment method. The review reveals the current state of the art in the team formation literature and also sheds light on prospective topics for additional study. This systematic literature review can immediately assist academics and working professionals in understanding the evolving mechanisms and tactics of team formation by providing up to date information.