When it comes to large research projects, strong leadership and experience may be a stronger predictor of team effectiveness than interdepartmental collaboration. This finding, which could help improve the future efficacy of large research teams everywhere, emerges from a Rutgers Health study of team dynamics amidst the planning of a major child health research initiative. “Leadership matters,” said Ralph Gigliotti, one of the study’s lead authors and an affiliate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “Leaders play a critical role in the enthusiasm level of working group members and influence their interest in wanting to continue with a project of this kind.”
The study, which appeared in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, analyzed 10 interdisciplinary working groups with a total of 105 members that developed protocols for the New Jersey Kids Study. Working group members came from 14 different Rutgers schools or units and 27 departments. They ranged from full professors (35 percent) to trainees (5 percent), with varying levels of research, clinical, educational, and administrative experience. To read the full story.