Collaborative Problem Solving in Design Teams: Communication Patterns and Project Ambiguity

This research examines how communication patterns within or between teams support problem solving in design and engineering projects. We compare four different perspectives for their effectiveness on performance: the heavyweight project manager perspective, the internal communication perspective, the external communication perspective and the gatekeeper perspective. We also propose that project ambiguity i.e., the degree to which a project cannot be fully specified upfront moderates how effective these different approaches are. Empirical analysis of data from 45 design and engineering teams shows that ambiguous projects require external communication, whereas non-ambiguous projects require internal communication with the project manager to be successful. Further, indirect communication through gatekeepers has little effect on project performance, but increases the performance evaluation of individual team members.