Effects of Media Compensation on Team Performance: The Role of Demographic Faultlines

Abstract

Modern-day communication in teams is characterized by a frequent and flexible use of various communication technologies. To understand the relationship between this new way of communication and team performance, research suggests incorporating contextual factors. In this study, we explore the role of demographic faultlines and subsequent subgroup formation using data from 164 students nested in 34 software engineering teams working together over the course of 14 weeks. Multilevel modeling revealed a three-way interaction between media richness, communication intensity, and demographic faultlines on team performance. Weak faultline teams evaluated their performance more positively when they compensated for low communication intensity by using richer communication channels and vice versa. In contrast, strong faultline teams were less able to adapt their communication behavior to increase performance. We discuss theoretical implications for team communication and diversity research and provide guidelines for improving communication in diverse teams.

Psychological Distance Impacts Subgroup Reciprocity in Technological Innovation Networks: The Mediating Role of Divisive Faultlines

“…Relationship-divisive faultlines lead to inconsistencies within the network ( Thatcher and Patel, 2012 ), and may produce conflicts linked to both tasks and emotions ( Maltarich et al, 2021 ), negatively impacting team performance. Straube et al (2018) hold a similar view, arguing that deeper relationship-divisive faultlines make smooth communication among members more difficult, and vice versa.…”

“…This is because greater psychological distance between reciprocal partners is more likely to impede the flow of information between them ( Calabrò et al, 2021 ). This is not conducive to establishing and maintaining stable reciprocal relationships between innovators, since it leads to communication barriers and decreases cohesion among network members ( Doucerain et al, 2015 ; Straube et al, 2018 ). Moreover, it may limit improvements in the innovators’ abilities, reducing the value co-created by reciprocal action ( Zhao et al, 2015 ) and impacting the level of innovation that is achieved.…”

The role of E-leadership in ICT utilization: a project management perspective

“…In an overview article, Bergiel, Bergiel, & Balsmeier [ 30 ] find the factors required in a successful virtual team are trust, communication, leadership, goals, and technology. In examining the debates on the necessity of using rich media (e.g., face-to-face meetings) versus lean media (e.g., email), or the communication intensity of media, Straube et al [ 31 ] found it was a compensatory balancing of these factors that was most important. Supportive of this finding were studies that found that only occasional face-to-face meetings are necessary in research teams [ 32 ], and that entirely chat-based teams could produce the same task performance, but cohesion was significantly less in a setting relying solely on a lean medium [ 33 , 34 ].…”

“…We focus on the group tasks and responsibilities of the leader because of the well-documented effects of leadership on process efficacy and team performance [ 44 , 45 ] and the importance of communication on leadership. Although individual or socio-demographic traits are important in their own right [ 31 ], we do not focus on this aspect in this relatively homogeneous context in examining the relationship between leadership and ICT utilization.…”

Teams, Time, and Technology: Variations of Media Use Over Project Phases

“…This can be attributed to individuals having already experienced a variety of different cues or becoming better at encoding messages with richer meaning in a particular context they have experience with. Accordingly, individuals do not passively accept the obstacles that physically leaner media impose on them; instead, they will alter their communication behavior, due to improved encoding and decoding of messages conveyed via the leaner medium, thus compensating for the lack of specific cues (e.g., Kock, 1998Kock, , 2001Straube, Meinecke, Schneider, & Kauffeld, 2018). Corresponding findings show changes in virtual media appropriation over time in the form of longer messages (e.g., Fuller & Dennis, 2009;Kock, 1998) or higher perceived communication intensity (Handke, Schulte, Schneider, & Kauffeld, 2018).…”