Jonathan Follett has a nice article covering issues of communication with virtual project teams. Themes include managing conflict, communication styles, debrief regularly, negative is a four-letter word, mitigate stress, and stay in touch. And while he aims this articles at a team setting, these same issues come into play in an online class/teaching situation, which is after all just another type of team. Through my own experiences as an on-line student at Capella University I experienced many of these points first-hand. While many of us feel comfortable in the digital world, with email, instant messaging, blogging, etc, things change when you move from social to work contexts. And get even trickier when you can’t walk down the hall to clarify a misunderstood email. Having some rules of engagement established at the start will be crucial staying focused on the task at hand.
A List Apart: Articles: The Rules of Digital Engagement
We are all still hard-wired for a world in which we work face-to-face with people, and the virtual workspace is still in its experimental stages. We must not forget this as we shape our communication strategies.
ADD YOUR COMMENT
Comments are moderated.
Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
New articles are normally posted on Mondays and Wednesdays. Subscribe to the RSS feed or the email update to keep current on the latest posts.
Past listings from 2004 to the present
Need a home (or better home) for your website? I highly recommend HostRocket -- they are the best!
