Managing Communication with Technology Jonathan Grudin S
TRATEGIES FOR C ONTEMPORARY T EAM L EADERSHIP
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Introduction & Team Exercise Distributed Work Conflict
& Conflict Management Team Design & Development Managing
Team Boundaries & Culture Fuzzy Membership Strategies for
Contemporary Team Leadership Day 1Day 2Day 3 Team Dynamics
Distributed Teams Fostering a Collaborative Team Environment
Managing Communication with Technology
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3 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership About the Instructor 1968-1972BA,
Math-Physics, Reed 1972-1973MS, Mathematics, Purdue
1973-1976Programmer, Wang Labs 1976-1977Psychology Department,
Stanford 1977-1981PhD, Cognitive Pychology, UCSD
1981-1983Researcher, MRC Applied Psych Unit 1983-1986Software
Engineer, Wang Labs 1986-1989Researcher, MCC 1989-1991Professor,
Computer Science, Aarhus 1991-1998Professor, Information & CS,
UC Irvine 1998- Senior Researcher, Microsoft About the Instructor
1968-1972BA, Math-Physics, Reed 1972-1973MS, Mathematics, Purdue
1973-1976Programmer, Wang Labs 1976-1977Psychology Department,
Stanford 1977-1981PhD, Cognitive Pychology, UCSD
1981-1983Researcher, MRC Applied Psych Unit 1983-1986Software
Engineer, Wang Labs 1986-1989Researcher, MCC 1989-1991Professor,
Computer Science, Aarhus 1991-1998Professor, Information & CS,
UC Irvine 1998- Senior Researcher, Microsoft
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4 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership About the Instructor 1983-1986Software
Engineer, Wang Labs Working on group support applications Learning
about organizational obstacles 1986-1989Researcher, MCC Research on
group support applications Studies of organizational practices
1989-1991Professor, Computer Science, Aarhus Studies of
organizations and design 1991-1998Professor, Information & CS,
UC Irvine Studies of collaboration technology adoption 1998- Senior
Researcher, Microsoft Design and studies of multimedia systems More
studies of technology adoption
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5 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Outline Background Key messages
Behavioral challenges for communication technology Managerial use
Technology studies Application sharing Shared calendars Instant
messaging and text messaging Weblogs Conclusion: Trends to
consider
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6 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Key Messages Behavioral challenges are
always underestimated Now that managers are hands-on users, were
really in trouble Studies of technology adoption and use are
interesting The first new technology use cohort in 20 years is here
Virtual worlds are arriving from an unexpected direction This is
the calm before the storm
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7 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Technical and Behavioral Issues:
Videconferencing as an Example A simple technology intervention:
Adding camera, monitor, and microphone to the familiar meeting room
setting
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8 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Effects of Simple Technology
Intervention Center of attention shifts Person at head of table
seems smaller, peripheral figures are more noticeable Camera height
makes everyone in the room less imposing Normal lighting and
networking can make people look ill, jerky Voice rises to be heard
across room, peripheral figures may be inaudible People less
animated when addressing a talking head on a monitor Even
one-second transmission delays can cause considerable
confusion
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9 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Human Nature and Social Organization
Human nature does not change Groups and teams: Have existed for
millions of years Large organizations:Have existed for several
thousand years
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10 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Production Group Well-Being Member
Support Inception Production demand and opportunity Interaction
demand and opportunity Inclusion demand and opportunity Problem-
Solving Technical problem-solving Role network definition Position
and status attainments Conflict Resolution Policy resolution Power
and payoff distribution Contribution and payoff distribution
Execution PerformanceInteractionParticipation Group Functions
(McGrath)
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11 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Behavioral Challenges to Design and
Use Effort/benefit disparities Reaching Critical Mass The Tragedy
of the Commons The Prisoners Dilemma Other social and motivational
factors Limits to informed intuition Low-frequency events Exception
handling
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Contemporary Team Leadership Required Effort vs. Perceived Benefit
Assuming use provides an overall benefit to the group Which
groupmembers get the most benefit? Which group members have to do
more work? Consider a distributed group management application:
Does the interface for the manager or the interface for individual
contributors get the most attention?
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Contemporary Team Leadership The Prisoners Dilemma Management With
a lawyerWithout lawyer Union With a Union: 44% Union: 67% lawyer
Mgmt: 36% Mgmt: 23% Without Union: 27% Union: 56% lawyer Mgmt: 63%
Mgmt: 44% Arbitration Cases (New York Times) Should unions seek
legal representation? Should management? Average disputed amount
won by each side (10% deducted for lawyers fees). Example:
expertise-locator database in an organization
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14 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Technology and Social Values privacy
trust reciprocity autonomy security democracy accountability
responsibility efficiency Human Values Issues Consequences of
inattention lack of adoption abuse Value-Sensitive Design site:
www.ischool.washington.edu/vsd
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15 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Exception Handling and Ethnography
Standard procedures may rarely describe real practice. They may
represent or enable: An idealized goal One path to a desired
outcome A useful tool for planning Efficient record-keeping by
noting divergences External reassurance Internal accountability
Software that enforces standard procedures may obstruct work
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16 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Outline Background Key messages
Behavioral challenges for communication technology Managerial use
Technology studies Application sharing Shared calendars Instant
messaging and text messaging Weblogs Conclusion: Trends to
consider
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Distributed teams Inter-organizational
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19 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Strategic Apex Middle Line Operating
Core Techno- structure Support Staff Parts of an Organization
(Mintzberg)
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20 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership 1980s: Managers dont type. Perin study
of resistance by tech company managers 1990s: Managers as late
adopters CEO use rose from 21% (1989) to 76% (2002) 2000s: Managers
as early adopters Why the change? New features & applications
useful to managers Graphical interfaces made learning & use
easier Use by friends, colleagues, at home helped learning Use by
professionals & kids erased secretarial stigma (1993) Young
individual contributors became middle-aged managers Old managers
disappeared Direct, Hands-On Technology Use
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Contemporary Team Leadership Implications New process
considerations for design, acquisition, deployment New technology
possibilities appear Old technology possibilities disappear Ways of
using technology differ Direct, Hands-On Technology Use 1980s:
Managers dont type. Perin study of resistance by tech company
managers 1990s: Managers as late adopters CEO use rose from 21%
(1989) to 76% (2002) 2000s: Managers as early adopters
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22 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Vertical Computer Science Department,
History Department, Philosophy Department, Spanish Department
Marketing Division, Engineering Division, Human Resources Division,
International Sales Division Horizontal Students, Faculty,
Administrators Individual contributors, Managers, Executives Which
sets of people in an organization interact and have a shared sense
of efficient work practices? Two Ways to Partition an
Organization
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23 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Strategic Apex Middle Line Operating
Core Activity in Organizations
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24 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Strategic Apex Middle Line Operating
Core All meetings Many meetings Few meetings Very political
Efficacy/sensitivity tradeoff Not political Heavy delegation Some
delegation No delegation Activity in Organizations
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25 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Outline Background Key messages
Behavioral challenges for communication technology Managerial use
Technology studies Application sharing Shared calendars Instant
messaging and text messaging Weblogs Conclusion: Trends to
consider
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26 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: Use of
Application-Sharing
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27 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: Use of Application-Sharing
Four teams using NetMeeting and conference calls One team varied
its physical configuration Application-sharing added value
Audio-conferencing alone unsatisfactory for some meetings Access to
last minute changes, high quality images More efficient
synchronization than typing URLs Shared reference improves
efficiency of distributed teams Conference room with remote
sitesTwo conference rooms
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28 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Attendance Record of One Team Meeting
Date Number of Attendees Audio conferencing NetMeetingFace-to-face
meeting
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29 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Number of Sites by Technology Phase
Number of Sites Meeting Date NetMeeting Audio conferencing
Face-to-face meeting
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Contemporary Team Leadership Number of Attendees Bellevue Site
Meeting Date Aug 1995 Oct 1995 Dec 1995 Feb 1996 Apr 1996 Jun 1996
Aug 1996 Oct 1996 Dec 1996 Feb 1997 Apr 1997 Jun 1997 Aug 1997 Oct
1997 Dec 1997 Feb 1998 Apr 1998 Jun 1998 Aug 1998 Oct 1998 Dec 1998
Greater Seattle (remote) Sites Audio conferencing NMFace-to-face
meeting Distribution By Site
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31 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Satisfaction: FTF vs Distributed
Meetings
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32 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Challenges for Distributed Meetings
Motivating adoption at remote sites Building trust and motivation
remotely Audio quality -- consistently underestimated Meetings
delayed by struggle to get synched Designed for dyads, not managers
and groups Difficult to visualize remote who, what, why Are they
pausing for a comma, or a period? Face to face yields more
spontaneity, side discussions I hear the voice, but there is a
vacancy for the whole human being. Meeting and technology
facilitators emerged in the most successful team (but not the
others)
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33 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: Shared Calendars
1980-1990: Rarely used Management mandate needed? Early 1990s: Use
spreads Study of shared calendars at Sun, MS, Boeing Interviews
with over 100 users 2500 responses to online survey at Sun and MS
Results Bottom-up adoption Infrastructure, features, interface
improved Default settings overwhelmingly used Use is heavily based
on activity pattern or role
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Contemporary Team Leadership Executives Live on the road, schedule
far in advance Meeting invitations dangerous Printing very
important Privacy very important Managers and admins Live from
calendars, reminders unnecessary Meeting invitations very useful
Printing important Benefits of very open sharing far outweigh
privacy Individual contributors Live at desks, reminders popular
Meeting invitations an incentive to use Printing unimportant
Privacy can be a concern, often unwarranted Calendar Use Varies
With Role
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35 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership NetGen: Bringing A Second CMC
Revolution New technologies IM and text messaging Weblogs New
Behaviors Multi-tasking Multimedia authoring Search-and-browse
Parallels earlier generation that brought email and word processing
That generation embraced Web but not these
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36 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Email in 1984 Used mostly by students
Used by everyone Access limited to friends Accessible to everyone
Clients not interoperable Complete interoperability Conversations
ephemeral Conversations saved Chosen for informality Became the
formal option Organizational distrust: Chit-chat? ROI?
Mission-critical technology IM in 2004 Used mostly by students Use
spreading rapidly Access limited to friends Pressure to remove
limits Clients not interoperable Pressure for interoperability
Conversations ephemeral Recording is more common Chosen for
informality Becoming more formal Organizational distrust:
Chit-chat? ROI? Will be mission-critical! is evolvingand today A
Tale of Two Technologies
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Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: IM in Company and
Community Personal use correlates with productivity estimates
Distributed groups and heavy phone users love it Managers and older
users use it differently Frequent requests: better client-side
saving, firewall traversal, more reliable file- and status-sharing,
easier set-up Critical mass needed within a workgroup
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38 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: IM in Company and
Community Findings from Puget Sound Area ethnography Broad
familiarity with technology Choice of communication channel driven
by activity pattern and peers Students use IM at school but not on
summer vacation Adults switch to and from IM based on urgency Blog
awareness low but blogging+IMing can reduce email use NetGen may
have different stance toward privacy
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39 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership What Is a Blog? Frequently-updated
website composed of posts in reverse-chronological order The front
page is the interesting part Fostering discussion (on or off the
blog) Web discussion board through comments Posts often link to
other posts Inbound links (trackback) Authorship, audience, topics,
and media vary
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40 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Web UI Client App Blog Server Web
Browser Aggre- gator rss weblogs.com Google Technorati Daypop etc.
Blog Server Robert Scobles Five Pillars of Conversational Software
1.Easy to publish 2.Discoverable 3.Reveal social patterns
4.Permalinks 5.Syndication How Blogs Work
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41 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For
Contemporary Team Leadership Team Leadership The management of .
Definition