This study examines the relationship between group interaction processes and task performance effectiveness. The researchers analyzed how process variables like agreeing, optimism, and giving opinions correlated with outcomes for an unstructured case study task and a structured ranking task. For the unstructured task, they found positive relationships between several process and output variables. The structured task results showed task products were positively associated with messages of positive regard and requests for opinions, and negatively associated with personally disconfirmatory messages. The researchers conclude that examining group communication processes could help identify impediments and lead to performance improvements by altering inputs and influencing the group interaction process.

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Hackman, J. R., & Morris, C. G. (1975). Group tasks, group interaction process, and group performance
effectiveness: A review and proposed integration. Advances in experimental social psychology, 8, 45-99.
Overview
“This study reports tests of the input-process-output model of small group systems.
Regression statistics analyzed associations between interaction process variables and
measures of group task products under two task conditions: an unstructured outcome
case study problem and a structured outcome rank-order decision task Results for the
unstructured task showed positive relationships between specific process (independent)
and output (dependent) variables: Agreeing and Optimism; Gives Opinion and Issue
Involvement; Disagrees and Originality; Asks for Information and Length (of written
product). Nonsignificant results for the Structured task indicated that ranking-task
products were positively associated with messages of positive regard for others and
requests for opinion and negatively related to personally disconfirmatory messages sent
to others. Findings are discussed in terms of the general model's conceptual adequacy
and methodological limitations associated with small group inquiry. (Science Direct,
2017)”
Key Points
● Decision makers often assign important decision making tasks, like designing a
new policy, to groups for decisions.
● Group performance and performance improvement are a fields that could use
more research. This paper disagrees with pre-existing research that:

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○ Current research suggests groups should not be used to perform
important tasks.
○ Research also suggests noninteracting individuals are at task/decision
making an interacting group.
● The paper offers the idea that a solution may be found in examining and
challenging the ongoing communication within collective teams, called the
“ongoing interaction process”.
○ Identify issues in interaction
○ Measure
○ Change impediments (alteration of input)
○ Influence group performance
○ Issues may include: input-process relationships and process-performance
relationships, task type, analytics (coding systems), behavior categories
and the way communication is evaluated, stochastic processes,
inconsistencies, research settings, cultural norms
● Other issues with current research may lie in the existing “methodological and
conceptual tools”.
● Some pro-group social psychologist say groups can have a positive outcome of
identifying and helping one-another remedy errors but that they are slow and
inefficient. They also suggest that if “group think” occurs, error resolution may
lesson.

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● Positives: Member Effort, member knowledge and skill, strategies for
collaboration and communication, level of effort, member experience (positive)
will improve the initiative
● Steps for improvement: Process consultation, diagnosis feedback, task redesign,
strategic member effort allocation
● Motivation. Member knowledge and skill, self-management, outside team
assistance, and high personal energy impact groups and their success or failures
○ Task stimulus
○ Task moderator
○ Task classification systems
● Change oriented research may help with strategy intervention
● Elusiveness and general theory
○ “(a) the role of group interaction process as a major determinant of group
productivity; (b) some selected "input" variables which we see as powerful
influences on group performance and thus as useful points of leverage for
changing performance-whether directly, or through the group process; and
(c) three "summary variables" (effort, performance strategies, knowledge
and skill) which are proposed as devices for summarizing the most
powerful proximal causes of group task effectiveness. (Hackman, et al pp.
44)”
Conclusion
Team decision making is controversial and under-researched. Additional study could
involve diagnosing communication and team dynamic impediments to improve task

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management and allocation of team ideas, efforts, which could make teams perform
even better than individually or as teams.
“In sum, the research suggests that it is in fact possible to create new, non-
traditional norms in groups (at least having to do with matters of task
performance strategy) and to trace the effects of those norms on group
effectiveness. Moreover, observations of the interaction of the groups in this
study showed both that group process was powerfully affected by the
interventions made, and that changes in interaction process led directly to
measurable differences in group productivity. (Hackman, et al pp. 43)”

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Citations
Science Direct (2017), Publisher Summary,
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260108602488