The Washington Post recently featured an article about how the new system upgrades for Microsoft and Apple (due out likely towards the end of the year in time for the holidays) might impact those in the market for new computers. Although the article is directed at individual consumers performing “typical” tasks, businesses and those working on virtual teams might… Read more →
We have said often and heard from others that maintaining positive social communication and relationships and creating opportunities for socialization are important for effective and satisfying work in virtual teams (e.g. see New Year Resolution: Be Happy ; Spread Your Virtual Smile, Really). Even though team members are often communicating over geographical distances, personal interaction and forming bonds with distant… Read more →
Second Life has been in the news again recently. Despite recent changes in upper management and a recent stagnation in new users, the popular virtual world seems to be on an upswing again. Second Life is looking to corporate participation as a key element in their future business (see this CNET article).
What: NY Times article about cable companies providing (or not providing) faster broadband service in the US Posts it is related to: So You Think You’d Like to Telecommute? Bottom line: For those who desire to, or already do work from home, and need high speed Internet to get optimum performance from various applications for file sharing, video conferencing or… Read more →
I had an interesting experience recently that reminded me of Surinder’s post on what he sees as some negative trends in email communication, only this experience happened in Second Life. I was visiting an area dedicated to online learning when I ran into another avatar–I’ll call him Mike–who began speaking with me. Mike immediately told me that he was… Read more →
What: New York Times article on how to manage e-mail overload Posts it is related to: Freeing Yourself From Email , Emergent Collaboration: Why Email Should Not Be Used for Collaboration Bottom line: In this Personal Tech article, the author gives some good ideas for getting our overwhelming amounts of email under control. His suggestion–an in-box that is always empty… Read more →
Surinder and I are currently attending the Mardi Gras conference on virtual worlds in Baton Rouge along with our colleague Rui Huang. We are here to present our paper that I discussed in last week’s post and also to hear the exciting work that others are pursuing in and around virtual worlds. I am amazed by the breadth of interests… Read more →
Effective communication in electronic environments can be vexing to virtual teams. We know intuitively that we need proper communication to achieve high quality and efficient outcomes, but we are not always sure how to best achieve effective communication or even what effective communication is for the task at hand. We have mentioned issues around communication in past posts, such as… Read more →
What: Statistics about who’s online and what they’re doing Posts to which it is related: Culture Matters In Virtual Teams Bottom line: A recent report by Pew Online and American Life gives a breakdown by age of Internet users and their activities. Although some may view online activities as strictly for the younger generation, the report shows that Boomers are… Read more →
I watched in awe from early this morning as the world got ready for the inauguration of Barack Obama as President. I felt joy and hope as I read my dad’s email this morning saying that he was so excited to see the moment that he had dreamed of, but thought might never come in his country. And I… Read more →