For four weeks, company employees wore iPhone-size badges, supplied by Boston startup Sociometric Solutions Inc.

WSJ: Tracking Sensors Invade the Workplace

In such studies, Sociometric Solutions and its clients say, workers typically get a report on their group's overall interactions, with no names attached, though individuals get to see their own data.

WSJ: Tracking Sensors Invade the Workplace

The study found that so-called "sociometric" leaders like Physician 184 had more of an influence on word-of-mouth buzz than the self-reported opinion leaders, perhaps because the latter group tend to be less involved with their peers.

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But that and a few other small but concrete steps like overlapping lunch breaks and moving coffee stations can improve workplace morale and productivity by as much as 25%, according to Ben Waber, a research scientist and CEO of Sociometric Solutions, a management consulting firm.

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Ben Waber, chief executive of Sociometric Solutions, which he based on his doctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says a handful of managers have wanted to see the data on an individual employee, but that his clients must sign contracts and consent forms prohibiting them from doing so.

WSJ: Tracking Sensors Invade the Workplace