How does remote work in software development affect team efficiency? This question intrigued us, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when it became necessary for people who could work remotely to work remotely. Despite the hardships and loss of lives, the pandemic created a unique setting for investigating how a majority of the workforce behaves during remote work.

Using regression analysis, we examined the correlation between team cohesion and team efficiency before and during the pandemic. The Language Style Matching (LSM) algorithm evaluated team cohesion based on verbal mimicry in chat content. Team performance was evaluated based on git contributions and tickets done. Team efficiency was analyzed via Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA).

The result is that when efficiency is correlated with the LSM score (cohesion) for teams working remotely, there is a significantly strong positive correlation, suggesting cohesion plays an important role in team efficiency when working remotely.