ABSTRACT
Analyses indicate that when the icebreaker took place, participants completed the task significantly faster, in significantly fewer words and negotiated turns during conversation more effectively. This chapter investigates the effect of an initial icebreaker on collaborative task performance across video-mediated communication. It was expected that performance would be enhanced when an icebreaker was used. Participants completed a “collaborative map-reading task,” which involves both participants having to plan a route together (on a map of a town centre with a number of shops), picking up five items from a shopping list along the way. After completing this task participants were given as long as they required to complete the map-reading task. Participants in the control condition completed the map-reading task without taking part in an icebreaker. Participants in the control condition spent on average 8.9% of the dialogue engaging in such activities, compared to 5.7% in the icebreaker condition.
