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: Wireless encryption code (WPA) has been recently been cracked by researchers Posts to Which it is Related: Pretty much any article on our site Bottom Line: WPA, a popular wireless encryption protocol widely used today by both home wireless internet users and business wireless internet users, has been compromised. A group of researchers found a way to gain access… 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 →
What: New York Times article on Facebook friends not meaning much in real life Posts to which it is related: Fostering Ambient Awareness in Virtual Teams, Building Social Relationships in Virtual Teams Bottom line: A while back Betsy discussed how social networking tools create ambient awareness and strengthen weak ties. I too blogged about how a blogger was able to… Read more →
If you were asked to think of the best leader or supervisor you had ever worked for, or the best team you had ever been a member of, what would be the criteria you would use to make that distinction? How much of your evaluation would be based on the social relationships between you and your boss or your fellow… 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 →
A topic of conversation that has recently become popular is the rapid adoption of video games by casual players. People who never played video games before and are relatively inexperienced gamers are now gaming regularly. We need to look no further than the success of the Nintendo Wii to see how the influx of casual gamers is changing the landscape… 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 is about how to be aware of and avoid some possible problems with implementing a plan for telecommuting. In order to avoid sending workers out into the world of telecommuting without the proper tools,… Read more →
A project leader recently asked me how to promote cooperation among members of his virtual team who are at different locations. This is a common issue that virtual team leaders struggle with. Virtual teams often consist of subgroups of team members located in separate locations. This division of team members can give rise to social categorization within the team (i.e., those who… Read more →