Measuring Collaboration in Modern Organizations

Internal communication has been a central theme in organizational economics, as employee collaboration provides insight into the structure of firms. Use of electronic communications data can be transformational for organizational economics, as these data provide a standardized way to measure organizational communication patterns and to determine the connection between these patterns and firm performance. We discuss the value of data that capture patterns of employee interactions, the benefits and risks associated with the use of electronic communication data (email and meetings) as empirical proxies for these collaboration patterns, and the research possibilities for studies across larger sets of firms.

Notes from the Field: Evaluating a Budget-Based Approach to Peer Assessment for Measuring Collaboration Among Learners on Interprofessional Teams

Assessing interprofessional skills poses challenges for health professions educators. While competency frameworks define the skills graduating students should possess, they do not provide guidance for assessment. This brief report explores validity evidence for use of peer assessment to assess learners and provide feedback for improvement. The context was an online learning experience for 477 fourth-year students from medicine, nursing, and pharmacy who worked together on small interprofessional teams to care for a virtual geriatric patient. At the end of each case unit, students were given a budget of points to allocate among teammates to assess their communication and interprofessional collaboration. Ratings were averaged to provide learners with feedback about their performance. Scores were normally distributed, did not demonstrate a leniency effect, were moderately correlated with ratings that preceptors assigned to students, and had smaller correlations with knowledge scores and other case activity measures. Findings support budget-based peer assessment as a valid and feasible approach for differentiating between students with high interprofessional competency and those who may be deficient. Further exploration should focus on the longitudinal effect of peer assessment, how it may influence individual learning and team dynamics, and whether it could be used for other assessment purposes.