The CAT (Communication Analysis Tool)
Project Brief
At least on some intuitive level, everyone knows that underneath the structures, processes, and technicalities, organisations are fundamentally made up of people and their interactions – and that these can make or break an organisation. For example, the contribution of poor teamwork and miscommunication to error in the operating theatre is now a hot topic in the medical profession.
Despite this, for many professionals, managers, and executives, things like communication and teamwork are seen to be intangible and difficult to measure. Simultaneously, scholars with expertise on these topics are limited by the outdated methods available to conduct and translate their field-based research, usually relying on inaccurate notes hastily scribbled on paper, which then need to be laboriously digitised, analysed, and transformed into digestible feedback for the organisations involved. These issues mean that the wealth of evidence on communication and teamwork is rarely translated into practice in a timely and effective way.
We have developed a prototype of a web-based application – the Communication Analysis Tool (CAT) – which allows its users to swiftly measure, analyse, and visualise data on communication patterns.
We are looking for people to test the CAT, in any way they see fit. If you are interested in finding out more about the CAT – its features, potential applications, or anything else – please get in touch.
Contact for more information: Georgia Hay and Florian Klonek
Faculty
Florian Klonek
Sharon Parker
Student
Georgia Hay
Collaborators working with us to test the CAT:
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Fabiola Gerpott & Sofia Schlamp (VU Amsterdam);
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Thomas O’Neill (University of Calgary);
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With interest from researchers and teachers from UWA (Australia), Hamburg University (Germany) , TU Braunschweig (Germany), York University (Canada), Bielefeld University (Germany), and Kassel University (Germany)
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With support from the UWA Research Development and Innovation Office
Publications:
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Klonek, F.E., Meinecke, A., Hay, G., & Parker, S. (2020). Capturing team dynamics in the wild: The communication analysis tool. Small Group Research, 51(3), 303-341. Doi: 10.1177/1046496420904126
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Klonek, F.E., Gerpott, F., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., & Parker, S. (2019). Time to go wild: How to conceptualize and measure process dynamics in real teams with high resolution? Organizational Psychology Review, 9(4), 245–275. Doi: 10.1177/2041386619886674
Research projects that have used CAT:
Schlamp, S., Gerpott, F. H., & Voelpel, S. C. (in press). Same talk, different reaction? Communication, emergent leadership, and gender. Journal of Managerial Psychology
Kanse, L., Muhammad Farid, H., & Klonek, F.E. (2020). Facilitating the tasks of observers and observees. In R. Charles & D. Golightly (Eds.),
Proceedings of Contemporary Ergonomics & Human Factors Conference 2020 & the 13th International Symposium on Human Factors in Organisational Design and Management (ODAM2020) (pp. 332-333), 28-29 April 2020, Stratford-upon-Avon / virtual. Birmingham, UK: Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors.
More about CAT in our Blog
