How Agile Working Increases Innovative Work Behavior: The Role of Psychological Empowerment and Communication Media

In a volatile environment, identifying effective collaboration elements is crucial for innovation. This article focuses on agile team characteristics that influence innovative work behavior by introducing the concept “agile working,” which encompasses autonomy, equality, and iterative delivery ( Koch & Schermuly, 2021a ). By applying work design and media richness theories, a moderated mediation process is tested, revealing an indirect effect of agile working on innovative work behavior via psychological empowerment. The findings on media richness suggest a complex interaction between communication media and agile working, indicating that agile teams do not always benefit from rich communication media such as in-person interactions.