I saw an interesting Microsoft Research talk on understanding long-term group effectiveness in an online community. Though many different ideas were presented, there were two that I found particularly interesting.

The first is to view group (people) networks in terms of two categories: instrumental and expressive. Instrumental ties are network hierarchies that are enforced. In most workplace, for example, organizational structure forms instrumental ties between employees. Instrumental ties are effective in conveying task-related information and advice. Expressive ties, on the other hand, are social networks in groups that grew organically. They are effective in providing emotional and social support, and are critical to long-term sustainability of the group.

To understand the effectiveness of these two networks in an online environment, the presenter suggested taking these measurements:

• Network density: do team members communicate with each other?
• Degree of centralization: does the team depend on one person?
• Reciprocity: how do team members respond to each other?
• Transitivity

One advantage of online environment is that digital form of communication (email, IM, VoIP, etc) can be recorded, measured, and analyzed. These data can also be used, for example, to measure the level of expressive ties within the team, or to understand “core” or “periphery” team members.

The second idea that I found interesting was the five processes that were identified as important in achieving high productivity within a group:

• Communication
• Cohesion: how united the team is in terms of shared vision and goals
• Conflict management: what processes are in place to resolve disagreement
• Participation
• Learning: how does the team as a whole retain information and knowledge

Cohesion and conflict management are particularly important in online communities due to the lack of face-to-face meetings as a way to develop mutual understanding and resolve differences.