The impact of communication mode and task complexity on small group performance and member satisfaction?

Software technology in the form of decision and group support systems has been deployed in many work environments. In some cases, these technologies are installed and used with little understanding of how this genre of software impacts upon group work. It often is presumed that productivity of a group will increase; however, upon further investigation, this may not be the case. The current study examines the impact of technology on a number of factors including time to complete task, member satisfaction, perceived information load, the number of contributing transactions, and task complexity. The study finds that the tendency toward electronic communications for important interactions and problem solving may be misguided. Although simple tasks can be accomplished successfully, complex tasks may result in larger error and member dissatisfaction with the medium. Further, information load can be negatively impacted upon by communication mode and may result in subjects reporting a perceived information overload when using teleconference-based communications as compared with activities performed during face-to-face interaction. These results have both choice and design ramifications. Specifically, group support systems in a complex, information-laden situation may not be a wise choice. Instead, systems need to be designed to handle information presentation in a manner that simplifies and organizes the information in such a way as to minimize the negative effects of the technology. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd