How Effectively Do We Communicate? An Analysis of Team Reflexivity in Transition and Action Phases of Team Collaboration

Background: Communication is the backbone of effective collaboration, enabling project success; yet, engineering projects often fail due to poor communication. Specifically, engineering teams may benefit from reflexivity interventions to improve decision making, problem solving, innovation, and performance. In this study, we focus on team reflexivity in direct application to engineering project management to identify reflexivity processes that facilitate effective communication. Literature review: Although research has shown that team reflexivity interventions—elicited through communication—can improve team interaction and performance, little empirical evidence exists into the temporal dimensions across the action and transition phases of team reflexivity processes. Research questions: 1. How is team reflexivity expressed through text-based communication? 2. How and when do team members shift between reflexivity processes over time, especially across and between transition and action phases? Research methodology: We analyzed collaborative activity among 62 four-person teams in a computer-simulated microworld across two scenarios. The reflexivity processes exhibited during interaction were identified and analyzed using statistical and content analysis. Results and discussion: Analyses indicated that team reflection promoted discussions about key issues, facilitated frequent process shifts among transition and action phases, and resulted in overall better performance. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the importance of team reflexivity interventions in engineering project teams to strategically guide members to improve planning, responding, and quality of attention devoted to long-term outcomes. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate the importance of deep structured team reflexivity through process shifts to help members understand strategies and goals, and develop shared objectives in complex environments.