Sunshine Docs

Group Dynamics

The group dynamics shown here are based on actual interaction data from the meeting, calculated using a scientifically validated method that reliably identifies each team member's position within the group — as well as broader team characteristics, such as overall team cohesion.

The Centrality diagram shows who is at the heart of the conversation. Participants closer to the center have higher centrality — meaning they are more actively connected to the flow of the discussion — while those further out play a less central role. The Interaction diagram reveals how balanced the relationships within the team are. It shows all meeting participants and the intensity of their direct exchanges: the thicker the line between two people, the stronger their interaction — and typically, the stronger their working relationship. More symmetrical interactions across the team generally indicate stronger overall cohesion.

Viewed across several meetings, these diagrams can reveal recurring patterns: which relationships are particularly strong, who consistently drives the conversation, and where the team's communication structure might benefit from adjustment

Conversational Gravity

A circular picture of the group, with each person shown as an avatar. People closer to the middle are the ones the conversation is gravitating toward — they're being addressed, deferred to, or waited on by the others. People closer to the edge are more on the periphery of the discussion.

A few people near the middle is normal when someone is presenting or there's a topic expert. In a team discussion, you usually want the group spread out more evenly.

Centrality

Waiting for participants...

Preview

Group Interactions

A web showing who has been talking to whom. Avatars sit around the edge, lines between them mean those two people have been exchanging directly, and a thicker line means they're exchanging more.

What to look for:

  • Lots of lines, everyone connected — the group is mixing well.
  • Most lines going to one person — that person has become the hub everything flows through.
  • Separate clusters — sub-groups have formed and aren't really talking across.
Interactions

Waiting for participants...

Preview

References

Highlighted references are peer-reviewed work published by Sunshine's founders.

  • Moreno, J. L. (1941). Foundations of Sociometry: An Introduction. Beacon House. https://ubdata.univie.ac.at/AC11980345
  • Spielhofer, T., & Motschnig, R. (2023). Developing Teams by Visualizing Their Communication Structures in Online Meetings. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 7 (10), 100. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti7100100
  • Onnela, J.-P., Waber, B. N., Pentland, A., Schnorf, S., & Lazer, D. (2014). Using sociometers to quantify social interaction patterns. Scientific Reports, 4 (1), 5604.
  • Fu, X., Jar-Der, L., & Boos, M. (2017). Social Network Analysis: Interdisciplinary Approaches and Case Studies. CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315369594