DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DISTRIBUTED AND FACE-TO-FACE GROUPSIN ELECTRONICALLY SUPPORTED MEETING ENVIRONMENTS - AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION

This longitudinal pilot study compared the developmental patterns of g roups in three types of electronically supported meeting modes: face-t o-face, dispersed-synchronous, and dispersed-asynchronous. The modes d iffered primarily in interactivity, channel capacity, and synchronicit y. Comparisons were made along several behavioral and socio-technical dimensions which influence the group development process. Face-to-face groups tended to exhibit more effective leadership and coordination c ompetence over time as compared to the distributed groups. However, al ong several other group process dimensions such as cohesiveness and eq uality of participation, dispersed groups did not differ from their fa ce-to-face counterparts. Moreover, groups in all three modes performed equally well in terms of the quality of outputs. These results sugges t that electronically distributed work groups-with adequate time and t raining-can become cohesive and perform effectively in the long run.