Distributed team cognition and collaborative problem-solving in project management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to verify how distributed cognition enhances collaborative problem-solving in the context of projects.Design/methodology/approachUsing qualitative research and in-depth interviews, a sample of 32 project managers with experience in traditional and agile methods acting in Brazil and internationally participated in the research process. The analysis process, utilising coding techniques, involved stages: open, axial, coding and selective coding. These stages encompassed the evaluation of categories based on a hierarchy, in order to determine an appropriate level of abstraction that properly explains theoretical findings.FindingsThe results indicate that distributed team cognition is significant for collaborative problem-solving. The data from the interviews allowed the proposal of a model of cognition, and the identification of the elements that support it.Practical implicationsUnderstand how aspects of distributed team cognition can impact the behaviours of the project professional and contribute to problem-solving in the project environment.Originality/valueThe elements observed affects the collaborative problem-solving by presenting a model of distributed cognition, which is composed by directed communication, collective interaction, trust building and collaborative behaviour.