Teamwork in different communication contexts. A longitudinal study

Abstract

Nowadays, the increasing use of new information technologies applied to work-group in organizational contexts makes it necessary for a careful study of both work-group processes and results. In this context, prior research has provided evidence about how mediated communication and task type have a different impact on group functioning and results (coordination of discussion, participation, influence of dominant members and normative control). However, in spite of advances in this area, there has been an absence of studies examining work-group functioning when teams involved are permanent, probably because of the high cost of longitudinal studies. Temporal aspects do however play animportant role in group processes and their results. Taking this into consideration, the objective of this study is to analyse how group processes develop over time as they adapt to technology and task types. Data were collected from a laboratory study in which 31 groups of 4 members participated. Groups were randomly assigned to different communication conditions (face-to-face with computer support, videoconference and e-mail). All groups performed different types of task (creativity, intellective and conflict) and met on several occasions over eight consecutive work sessions.