Why leadership outweighs an interdisciplinary mix in the effectiveness of a research team

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%) to trainees (5%), with varying levels of research, clinical, educational, and administrative experience.

Participants evaluated their own working group team’s effectiveness by completing a modified TeamSTEPPS Team Assessment Questionnaire (TAQ), which assessed various aspects of team dynamics such as foundation, functioning, performance, skills, climate, and leadership. Independent reviewers then evaluated the final reports produced by each working group using a standardized tool, with scores ranging from 18 to 24 out of 25.

The study authors also analyzed team-level factors such as age distribution, diversity of school affiliations, team size, and the proportion of members with research experience or senior academic ranks. These factors were then correlated with TAQ scores and final report evaluations to identify potential predictors of team effectiveness.

The study found that teams with higher proportions of senior faculty members, research-focused members, and larger team sizes tended to receive higher effectiveness ratings from peers. Metrics of team diversity—such as variety in academic disciplines and school affiliations—corresponded to lower perceived team effectiveness in this early planning stage.

“We did not find any correlation between team interdisciplinary diversity and team effectiveness in our study,” said Melissa Weidner, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the medical school and co-lead author of the study. “But these teams were newly formed. It’ll be something that we have to continue to look at in future studies, and it may change as these teams have the opportunity to continue working together.”

Rather than relying solely on historical metrics of team effectiveness, such as publication output, the researchers surveyed team members about their perceptions of effectiveness and had independent reviewers evaluate each working group’s final report.

No single factor predicted higher report quality, but perceptions of strong project leadership better predicted team member enthusiasm for continued participation.

The New Jersey Kids Study aims to be a ground-breaking study of what drives childhood health and well-being. By following kids from the womb to adolescence, researchers hope to uncover insights into health issues such as rising rates of asthma, autism, and childhood obesity in the diverse New Jersey population.

Study leaders have long known they’d collect data from questionnaires and biospecimens, but the details remained undetermined. That’s where the working groups came in.

“Which questions we should ask? Which are the most important details patients can provide about maternal and child health? What are the most important biospecimens? How often should we get them, at what frequency and at what ages? All of these kinds of specifics were what the working groups made recommendations on,” said Weidner, who is also a physician at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Qualitative analysis of the working group reports focused on four key themes related to team science practices: organization and process, collaboration, task delegation, and decision-making patterns. The researchers noted significant variation in how different interdisciplinary teams approached these aspects.

“I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all approach to team science, and the study findings validate that,” said Gigliotti, who is also Rutgers’ assistant vice president for organizational leadership in University Academic Affairs.

The study authors said their findings could help inform the design and management of future large-scale, interdisciplinary research initiatives at Rutgers and beyond. They emphasized the importance of intentional team construction and leadership development, even when bringing together experts from diverse academic backgrounds.

“I think this is a model example of how team science could be done and what opportunities are afforded to us at a place like Rutgers,” Gigliotti said. “Our infrastructure and our cross-disciplinary partnerships allow us to bring together a wide range of expertise in pursuit of critical questions of interest.”