What Makes a Strong Team?

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that (a) groups can be characterized by a collective intelligence (CI) factor that measures their ability to perform together on a wide range of different tasks, and (b) this factor can predict groups' performance on other tasks in the future. The current study examines whether these results translate into the world of teams in competitive online video games where self-organized, time-pressured, and intense collaboration occurs purely online. In this study of teams playing the online game League of Legends, we find that CI does, indeed, predict the competitive performance of teams controlling for the amount of time played as a team. We also find that CI is positively correlated with the presence of a female team member and with the team members' average social perceptiveness. Finally, unlike in prior studies, tacit coordination in this setting plays a larger role than verbal communication.