Perceived effects of communication transmission delays during remote collaboration under noisy and reverberant settings on communication, team and task performance, and well-being

Abstract

This study, which is part of a larger study, was designed to investigate the perceived effects of communication delays on well-being, communication, and task and team performance. Ninety (45 men and 45 women) participants were divided into 30 teams with 3 members in each team. Each team built different LEGO models under three communication transmission delay conditions in the following order: No delay, 750 ms delay and 5000 ms delay. One individual served as the LEGO builder, who did not have access to the instruction manual. The remaining two team members provided instructions for building the models. Participants were in separate rooms and communicated via earphones. Background white noise (50 dB SPL) was introduced in their ear canals and reverberation was applied to the transmitted communication. After each of the delay conditions, participants completed a visual analogue scale with 39 items related to well-being, communication and team and task performance. ANOVA revealed significant perceived effects of 5000 ms delay on communication, team dynamics, task performance and well-being. In the well-being categories, women yielded poorer scores than men. Detailed results will be included in the presentation along with recommendations. [Acknowledgement: Graduate students Sydney Osbarn and Melissa Reyes assisted in data collection.]