What: NYTimes Maureen O’Dowd column on outsourcing in the news industry. Post to which it relates: Culture Matters in Virtual Teams, Implicit Communication and Culture: What it Means for Leading Virtual Teams, Promoting Cooperation Among Subgroups in Virtual Teams, So Far and Yet So Near Bottom line: O’Dowd talks about a couple in Pasadena, CA who run a small newspaper. … Read more →
What: FaceTime study on the Collaborative Internet (see FaceTime’s summary, or a CNET post about the results) Post to which it relates: Fostering Ambient Awareness in Virtual Teams Bottom line: FaceTime does an annual survey looking not only at use of collaborative technologies by workers, but also what kind of cost that has to companies. You might be surprised that the… Read more →
Although many people utilize virtual worlds for purely recreational purposes, there are a lot of companies trying to think of creative business applications for this new technology. I’m particularly intrigued by the potential uses of virtual worlds in the hiring process. Some organizations are now holding job fairs, recruiting sessions, and interviews in virtual worlds (see articles from WSJ and… Read more →
What: IT World article on virtualizing work Posts to which it is related: Leading in Face-to-Face Versus Virtual Teams Bottom line: This is a short article on some of the benefits of virtualizing work, from the perspective that how people do their work is just as important as what people do. The author, Martha Young, suggests this is something that… Read more →
This week I read an interesting research article (Perceived Proximity in Virtual Work: Explaining the Paradox of Far-but-Close) that talked about perceived proximity. The authors (Wilson, O’Leary, Metiu, and Jett) define perceived proximity as two or more individuals having the feeling of being close, regardless of physical distance between them. Often, one assumes that physical proximity and perceived proximity are highly correlated, but the… Read more →
What: Information Week article about the evolution of Second Life. Posts To Which It Is Related: Bottom Line: This is a great article for the look it takes at the business side and the evolution of Second Life. Despite the “hype bubble” and its subsequent burst, Second Life is intriguing because of its novelty and potential. Perhaps figuring out how to make… Read more →
What: NYTimes article about Peek, an email-only mobile device. Posts To Which It Is Related: Time to Think Differently About Collaboration in Virtual Worlds Bottom Line: This article is mostly a review of Peek, a mobile device that is relatively limited since it only does no-frills email. However, what’s more interesting than the review is the author’s mention of a… Read more →
I recently read a NY Times article by Clive Thompson about the social effects of information sharing through sites like Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. Posting frequent small tidbits of information about oneself is often perceived as a useless act. But Thompson points out some of the really useful social outcomes that can result from these acts of self-disclosure. I cover the following points: Ambient… Read more →
Recently, Surinder and I did a day-long workshop on virtual team leadership, and I think it has gotten both of us thinking more than ever about those who are actually practicing virtual team leadership. We try to do two things when making suggestions for virtual team leaders: first, to support them with research and practitioner experience, and second, to organize… Read more →
What: Computerworld article on telecommuting. Posts to which it is related: Confessions of a Telecommuter, So You Think You’d Like to Telecommute? Bottom line: This article articulately explains how and why telecommuting is not always a problem nor is it always a good option. The author suggests a series of six questions a manager should ask before allowing telework, and… Read more →