Recent workplace research by Dr. James Mitchell reveals that optimal project team sizes may differ significantly from conventional management wisdom....
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Recent workplace research by Dr. James Mitchell reveals that optimal project team sizes may differ significantly from conventional management wisdom. Throughout the 1990s, business consultants typically recommended assembling large teams for complex projects, assuming that additional personnel would expedite completion. While expanded team membership does enable diverse expertise and distributed workloads, these apparent advantages often generate substantial coordination difficulties. Large groups frequently struggle with communication bottlenecks that impede timely decision-making processes. Given these research findings, Dr. Mitchell and his colleagues conclude that smaller project teams will likely ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
require more specialized expertise from each individual team member than larger teams do.
create more communication challenges due to the increased workload per person.
complete projects more efficiently by avoiding the coordination problems that plague larger groups.
need more time to finish complex projects because of reduced total workforce.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Recent workplace research by Dr. James Mitchell reveals that optimal project team sizes may differ significantly from conventional management wisdom." |
|
| "Throughout the 1990s, business consultants typically recommended assembling large teams for complex projects, assuming that additional personnel would expedite completion." |
|
| "While expanded team membership does enable diverse expertise and distributed workloads, these apparent advantages often generate substantial coordination difficulties." |
|
| "Large groups frequently struggle with communication bottlenecks that impede timely decision-making processes." |
|
| "Given these research findings, Dr. Mitchell and his colleagues conclude that smaller project teams will likely ______" |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Dr. Mitchell's research suggests smaller project teams are preferable to large teams because they avoid the coordination and communication problems that plague larger groups.
Argument Flow: The passage introduces research that challenges conventional team-size recommendations, explains the traditional large-team approach, acknowledges both benefits and drawbacks of large teams, and concludes that smaller teams will likely be better as a result.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The passage shows that large teams have coordination and communication problems despite their advantages
- Mitchell's research reveals these issues, so his conclusion about smaller teams should logically address these problems
- The right answer should suggest that smaller teams will be more effective or efficient because they avoid the specific problems that plague larger teams
require more specialized expertise from each individual team member than larger teams do.
- This focuses on specialization requirements for team members
- The passage does not discuss individual expertise requirements
- This does not follow from the research findings about communication and coordination problems
create more communication challenges due to the increased workload per person.
- This suggests smaller teams will have MORE communication challenges
- This contradicts the passage's logic about large teams having communication problems
- This would make smaller teams worse, not better
complete projects more efficiently by avoiding the coordination problems that plague larger groups.
- This directly addresses the coordination problems identified in the research
- Logically follows from the evidence about large teams having coordination difficulties
- If large teams have coordination problems, smaller teams would likely avoid them and be more efficient
need more time to finish complex projects because of reduced total workforce.
- This suggests smaller teams need more time due to reduced workforce
- This contradicts the passage's implication that smaller teams would be better
- Ignores the coordination advantages that would come from smaller team size