Group, Sub-Group, and Nominal Group Idea Generation: New Rules for a New Media?

Abstract

How should a group organize itself to generate ideas? Should all group members work together as one intact group, should they form several smaller sub-groups that work independently, or should all members work separately as individuals without communicating? Research with verbal media presents a clear answer: all members should work separately without communicating. This paper examines this question for computer-mediated idea generation. In two separate studies, intact groups generated more ideas (with higher quality) than those working as individuals or in several smaller sub-groups. We attribute these differences to reduced blocking, and different social processes adopted in the different sized groups.