A multisession comparative study of group size and group performance in an electronic meeting system environment

Meetings are crucial elements in the functioning of organizations. Actors commonly noted as causing a meeting to lose its effectiveness (achieve the desired outcomes) are too many or too few individuals, wrong individuals, lack of goals, and hidden agenda/motives. Several researchers have focused on determining the optimal group size for a meeting. Much of this work was based on the concept that as the size of a group increases, meeting outcome measures (net value) increase until a maximum point is reached. Any further increases in group size would yield negative net benefits. Using induced-value experimentation, we completed controlled experimentation of the relationships between group size and group meeting outcomes. Outcome measures are directly observable rather than being self-reported. We find that no significant differences exist between group size and decision quality or decision satisfaction. There are significant differences across group sizes in solution time, total participation, and average participation. The results raise questions about optimal group size results cited in earlier studies.