Investigating Communication Patterns as Proxy Indicators of Team Cohesion in Ad Hoc Teams

Team cohesion is a well-known facilitator of effective team functioning. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence identifying predictors of cohesion due to limitations in measurement methods. To address this issue, I propose that teams in digital games can be used as an alternative naturalistic environment to investigate team cohesion.

In this thesis, I present three studies that use a variety of experimental and analysis techniques to identify behavioural indicators of cohesion and show the value of digital games as alternative paradigms for investigating team dynamics. Chapter 3 describes a qualitative study on identifying potential predictors of cohesion. The study is conducted from the perspective of an intention to be on the same team in the future. The findings from Chapter 3 suggest that team communication may be a key factor that influences intention for repeated play between strangers in ad hoc teams.

Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 explores team communication as a proxy indicator of cohesion to identify precisely what and how communication influences or indicates cohesion. In these studies, we first establish the relationship between cohesion and performance (Chapter 4 and 5), and between cohesion and satisfaction (Chapter 5). This ensures that the findings on cohesion in digital game teams are comparable to the wider cohesion literature. Once these relationships are established, we investigate how different communication metrics are related to cohesion and team outcomes (e.g., performance and satisfaction). Performance and satisfaction were chosen as outcome measures as these represent well-known outcomes that are generated by cohesive teams as they develop. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 provide insight into the relationships between cohesion and team outcomes, and the relationship between communication and cohesion, in different team contexts.

Chapter 6 closes with a discussion of the observations, findings, and new knowledge gained from this research expedition on identifying a potential unobtrusive behavioural indicator of team cohesion.