Communication Skills Team Communication and Collaboration 2

Question 1

What is the 'common information effect' in team decision-making?

Accepted Answer

The tendency for teams to over-discuss information already shared by all members and under-discuss unique information held by individual members

Answer

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.

Question 2

What communication behavior most distinguishes high-performing teams from low-performing teams, according to research?

Accepted Answer

High-performing teams demonstrate balanced participation, active listening, and high social sensitivity among members

Answer

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.

Question 3

What is a 'communication plan' in project management and what should it address?

Accepted Answer

A documented framework defining who communicates what, to whom, how, and how often throughout the project

Answer

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.

Question 4

What is the 'message richness' concept in organizational communication theory?

Accepted Answer

The capacity of a communication channel to convey multiple cues, enable rapid feedback, and support language variety

Answer

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).

Question 5

What is the purpose of a 'retrospective' in agile team communication?

Accepted Answer

A regular meeting for the team to reflect on what worked, what didn't, and what to improve in their process

Answer

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.

Communication Skills Practice Test

Communication Skills Practice Test

Communication Skills Team Communication and Collaboration 2