When is a group effort most effective?
Monday, April 6th, 2009
By: Maiken Scott
mscott@whyy.org
From boardrooms to church basements, almost everybody works in groups at times. A new study examines how effective group work is, and what makes it most productive. Researchers at the University of Central Florida analyzed information from almost 5000 different groups. They found that groups that share new information and are task-oriented have the best outcomes. Good relationships between members did not improve a group's effectiveness. WHYY's Behavioral Health reporter Maiken Scott discussed the findings with psychologist Dr. Dan Gottlieb:
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The article's lead author is Jessica Mesmer-Magnus, PhD, of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She teamed up with Leslie DeChurch, PhD, an organizational psychologist at the University of Central Florida to analyze research on information sharing in the workplace, consisting of studies of approximately 4,800 groups and more than 17,000 people. Their findings are reported in the March issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association.
Read the study(pdf link).
View a summary of the study.
Hi John and Dennis,
We heard your questions and tracked down the links to the study which were added above. Thanks for your interest in this subject.
Dan P. – WHYY
WHATY STUDY?????!!!!!!!!!!!!
You cut off thye most importatnt part of the story. What was the name of the study. Who did the study. It may have been on the radio, but it is not in this clip.
Is there a link for this research?
Thanks.