Spontaneous and Informal Communication in Virtual Teams

One of the sticking points of successful virtual teamwork is the importance of informal communication. Look at any study or assessment of a globally distributed team and you will see informal communication on any top 10, top 7, top 5, or even top 3 list as an indicator of a cohesive, high-functioning team – and a harbinger of success.

And yet, many virtual teams – especially at the management and executive level – resist investing time and energy into developing informal communication among team members. Perhaps it is because the idea of informal communication is so elusive, and it can seem counter-intuitive to encourage people to communicate on non-work related or ‘off-topic’ subjects during work time.

It is a misconception that all, or even most, informal communication is ‘did you see the game last night?’ or ‘have you seen that new movie?’ type of talk. Much of what people communicate about spontaneously is about the minute by minute project decisions and complications that are the crux of most information work.

I also believe it is a mistake to under-value a reasonable amount of casual interaction among co-workers and team members. In fact, I would encourage any virtual team to develop FORMAL ways to communicate INFORMALLY – weird, I know. Read more

Education and Virtual Team Leadership: The Future is Now

I read a post on the e-Learning Pundit blog today announcing a new MS program in Virtual Team Management and Communication:

The Rabb School at Brandeis University (MA) – will begin teaching an “online only”, 30-credit hour Master of Science in Virtual Team Management and Communication during the Spring 2009 semester.  Total tuition is estimated at just over $21,000. A few colleges around the US teach virtual team-related courses.  However, this is the first dedicated graduate degree that I’ve seen.

That reminded me of a website I found last month about The Deloitte Virtual Team Challenge. This program is a real-time, multi-user business simulation that is played over the course of several weeks by high school students throughout North America. Read more

Mediaddiction: Technology and The 2008 Presidential Race

The 2008 US Election has been unique since the campaigning began almost 2 years ago: defying many of the electorate’s expectations regarding gender, age, race, and party affiliation; and surpassing records of fund raising, voter registration, early voting, and potentially (likely!?) voter participation. Another way this election has been groundbreaking is in the use of technology both by the campaigns and in the coverage of the race.

From CNN’s ‘Magic Map’ and Anchors like Larry King and Rick Sanchez responding to viewer’s facebook and myspace messages on-air in real-time, to the use of email and text messaging to connect to supporters, social networking sites to organize volunteers, online videos to build candidates’ ‘brands’, and massive amounts of internet fund raising it’s clear that it is a brave new world out there. Read more

Instant Messaging – Essential business tool or time waster?

I have long felt that Instant Messaging (IM) is an often overlooked tool for remote collaboration and keeping virtual teams connected.  What was once a tool used by kids to chat with their friends now offers useful business features such as file transfer, video conferencing, multi-person chats, and document sharing.

For many knowledge workers IM has become a mission critical business tool, like the phone or email, for keeping in touch with team members and coworkers. However for many it is yet another digital source of interruptions that eats away at productivity when working in your virtual office.

Although it is often speculated that IM leads to increased interruptions and decreased productivity – A recent study by researchers at Ohio State University and University of California, Irvine found that workers who used instant messaging on the job reported less interruption than colleagues who did not. Read more

TAO Podcast (Mobile Work Tip) – Using Threaded Discussion Boards

Email has become a primary form of business communication. I believe one of the reasons it is so popular is that it is the most accepted and widespread method of asynchronous communication. But email is so pervasive and convenient that it can be easy to overlook other options and spiral into email overload.

When we talk about asynchronous communication we mean that all parties involved do not need to be present and available at the same time. Examples include e-mail, discussion boards, and text messaging over cell phones. Direct communication, where all parties involved in the communication are present at the same time, is what we refer to as synchronous communication. Examples include a telephone conversation, a company board meeting, chat rooms, and instant messaging.

In this Mobile Work Audio Tip Phil talks about some benefits of asynchronous communication and the use of discussion boards and threaded discussions.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:04 — 1.9MB)

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