co-located teams: the influence of mood feedback

Abstract.This article examines the influence of mood feedback on different outcomes of teamwork in two different collaborative work environments. Em-ploying a 2 x 2 between-subjects design, mood feedback (present vs. not pre-sent) and communication mode (face-to-face vs. video conferencing) were ma-nipulated experimentally. We used a newly developed collaborative communi-cation environment, called EmotiBoard, which is a large vertical interactive screen, with which team members can interact in a face-to-face discussion or as a spatially distributed team. To support teamwork, this tool provides visual feedback of each team member’s emotional state. Thirty-five teams comprising 3 persons each (with a confederate in each team) completed three different tasks, measuring mood, performance, subjective workload, and team satisfac-tion. Results indicated that the evaluation of the other team members ’ emotional state was more accurate when the mood feedback was presented. In addition, mood feedback influenced team performance positively in the video conference condition and negatively in the face-to-face condition. Furthermore, participants in the video conference condition were more satisfied after task completion than participants in the face-to-face condition. Findings indicate that the mood feed-back toolis helpful for teams to gain a more accurate understanding of team members ’ emotional states in different work situations. Keywords:virtual teamwork; videoconference; face-to-face; mood; computer-supported cooperative work