Key Points
Collective intelligence is often seen as greater than the sum of its parts: superior to the cumulative individual intelligence of the groups members..
The collective intelligence of a team can, for example, be adversely affected by social biases and what cognitive scientists call herding effects, because these can lead to collective decisions being disproportionately influenced by a few members of the group who are less competent yet more confident.. Further, psychologists speak about social loafing to describe a person performing poorly because they are part of a group they have the impression that others will do the job without them needing to contribute..
The experimental method we implemented involved individual training sessions followed immediately by testing the teamwork this precluded opportunities for people to learn by observing their coworkers performance, and therefore one of the advantages of being part of the group during the learning process was eliminated...
As internet-based communication technologies are used not only for large-scale voluntary collaborative endeavours, such as citizen science projects, but also for remote working, it is important to recognise the potential effects of different training approaches and team dynamics...
When team members dont have the chance to observe other workers and reap the advantages of social learning, and when communication is less efficient than face-to-face interactions, the costs and benefits in the teamwork equation can shift..
