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 →
During the last few years, I have noticed certain changes or patterns in email communication that can potentially damage virtual work. I am afraid that these patterns may be on their way to becoming a part of email communication culture. Many email users may be falling into these usage patterns without realizing their potentially damaging effects. With the idea of… 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 →
The Leading Virtually team regards virtual collaboration technology as a new wave of options for human interaction. Much like the advent of the Internet changed the way we communicate and interact, our growing ability to connect in virtual worlds has a similar potential to drive social change. In our modern world it’s easy to forget that at other times in human… Read more →
Surinder recently passed an article along to me documenting a case study of an asynchronous online role-play used in a university setting. The article set my thoughts in motion about the Leading Virtually blog and my own thinking regarding training, leadership development, and learning in virtual environments in general. We at Leading Virtually obviously believe that virtual teams can be… Read more →
In August, Betsy wrote a post on the potential of virtual worlds for leadership development. In that post she mentioned the benefits and opportunities available for leadership development in game-based virtual worlds, such as World of Warcraft, and non-game virtual worlds. She mentioned visualization in virtual worlds as one aspect that can enable leadership training through behavior change and “stickiness”… Read more →
I recently had a problem with my MacBook Pro. The graphics chip went bad, which was a known problem with the particular chip I had. While it was shipped off to Apple for repair, I struggled through more than a week of trying to communicate with team members and keep a normal rate of productivity without the laptop I had… 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 →
In Second Life my name is Abi. I am taller than average, wear high-heeled Mary Janes, black pants covered in zippers and a t-shirt with a dragon on it. I have bright pink hair. In real life I am short, never wear high heels, and have light brown hair. The only features my avatar and I have in common are… 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 →