Communication Skills Team Communication and Collaboration 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the 'common information effect' in team decision-making?
- The tendency for teams to make decisions using publicly available data
- The tendency for teams to over-discuss information already shared by all members and under-discuss unique information held by individual members (Correct answer)
- The phenomenon where all team members converge on the same opinion over time
- The principle that common goals improve information-sharing in teams
Correct answer: The tendency for teams to over-discuss information already shared by all members and under-discuss unique information held by individual members
The common information effect shows that teams disproportionately discuss information everyone already knows, failing to surface unique knowledge held by individual members — often leading to worse decisions than individuals with full information could make alone.
Stasser and Titus's 'hidden profile' research demonstrated this paradox: teams performing decision tasks where each member held unique critical information consistently failed to share that information, instead discussing the facts everyone already shared. This is because shared information has more social validation, is more likely to be raised by multiple people, and feels less risky to contribute. Teams can counter the common information effect by explicitly assigning information roles, creating structured sharing protocols, and asking 'What do you know that others might not?'
Question 2: What communication behavior most distinguishes high-performing teams from low-performing teams, according to research?
- High-performing teams have more extroverted members who drive discussion
- High-performing teams demonstrate balanced participation, active listening, and high social sensitivity among members (Correct answer)
- High-performing teams communicate less frequently but more formally
- High-performing teams are led by dominant communicators who set clear direction
Correct answer: High-performing teams demonstrate balanced participation, active listening, and high social sensitivity among members
Google's Project Aristotle and Pentland's MIT research identified equal speaking time distribution and social sensitivity (understanding team members' emotions and perspectives) as the strongest predictors of team communication quality.
Alex Pentland's MIT research using electronic badges to measure communication patterns found that high-performing teams had balanced speaking time (no single person dominated), high energy (frequent interaction), and rich connectivity (members communicated with each other, not just with the leader). Google's Project Aristotle identified psychological safety and social sensitivity (measured by the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' test) as top performance predictors. The collective intelligence of a team is more than the sum of individual intelligences when communication is inclusive.
Question 3: What is a 'communication plan' in project management and what should it address?
- A strategy for marketing the project's results to external stakeholders
- A documented framework defining who communicates what, to whom, how, and how often throughout the project (Correct answer)
- A crisis communication protocol for when projects fail
- A list of communication software tools approved for use on the project
Correct answer: A documented framework defining who communicates what, to whom, how, and how often throughout the project
A project communication plan defines the information needs of stakeholders, the responsible parties for communication, the channels and formats to be used, and the frequency and timing of updates.
According to the PMI, poor communication is a primary cause of project failure. A communication plan typically includes: stakeholder identification and their information needs, what information will be communicated (status updates, risk logs, decisions), who is responsible for each communication, what channels will be used (email, meetings, dashboards), frequency and timing, and escalation paths for issues. It transforms the often ad hoc pattern of project communication into a structured, reliable system.
Question 4: What is the 'message richness' concept in organizational communication theory?
- The complexity and detail of the content in a message
- The capacity of a communication channel to convey multiple cues, enable rapid feedback, and support language variety (Correct answer)
- The emotional intensity with which a message is delivered
- The number of people who receive a message in an organization
Correct answer: The capacity of a communication channel to convey multiple cues, enable rapid feedback, and support language variety
Media richness theory (Daft and Lengel) ranks communication channels by their ability to convey complex, ambiguous information — face-to-face is richest (nonverbal, immediate feedback), email is leaner (no nonverbal, delayed feedback).
Daft and Lengel's media richness theory proposes that communication effectiveness depends on matching channel richness to message complexity. Rich channels (face-to-face, video) can handle ambiguous, complex, emotional communications because they carry multiple cues simultaneously (words, tone, facial expression, gesture) and allow immediate feedback. Lean channels (email, memos) are efficient for routine, clear messages. Using a lean channel for a complex or sensitive message — like delivering a performance review by email — is a common and consequential communication failure.
Question 5: What is the purpose of a 'retrospective' in agile team communication?
- A review of the project budget and timeline for stakeholder reporting
- A regular meeting for the team to reflect on what worked, what didn't, and what to improve in their process (Correct answer)
- A formal performance evaluation of individual team members
- A look back at previous projects to extract lessons before starting a new one
Correct answer: A regular meeting for the team to reflect on what worked, what didn't, and what to improve in their process
The agile retrospective is a structured team communication ritual focused on continuous process improvement — enabling teams to adapt their collaboration and communication practices rather than repeating inefficiencies.
The retrospective (typically held at the end of each sprint or iteration) follows a structured format (often Start-Stop-Continue or Mad-Sad-Glad) to generate candid team reflection. Its purpose is not to evaluate people but to improve processes: what worked well in the last period, what created friction or waste, and what the team commits to trying differently next time. It is explicitly a communication and continuous improvement tool — teams that skip retrospectives tend to repeat the same collaboration problems indefinitely.
Question 6: What does 'overcommunication' risk in a team environment, and when is it justified?
- Overcommunication is always better than undercommunication and carries no risks
- Overcommunication can cause information overload, reduced attention to critical messages, and decision fatigue, but is justified during crisis or major change (Correct answer)
- Overcommunication wastes time but has no impact on message reception
- Overcommunication is only a problem in remote teams, not co-located ones
Correct answer: Overcommunication can cause information overload, reduced attention to critical messages, and decision fatigue, but is justified during crisis or major change
Excessive communication volume causes message fatigue, desensitizes team members to important communications, and consumes time, but during organizational change or crisis, higher communication frequency is essential to reduce uncertainty and maintain trust.
Information overload research (Eppler and Mengis) shows that beyond a threshold of information volume, reception quality and decision quality decline — people miss critical items buried in high volumes of communication, stop reading updates, or experience cognitive fatigue. However, during organizational change, mergers, crises, or projects with high uncertainty, the risks of undercommunication (rumors, anxiety, misalignment) typically exceed the risks of overcommunication. The key is ensuring critical information stands out through clear prioritization and consistent channels.
Communication Skills Team Communication and Collaboration 2
What is the 'common information effect' in team decision-making?