What: The Scientist article on virtual collaboration among cancer researchers. Bottom line: This article is a little technical, but the part about a virtual collaboration tool is understandable even to someone outside the medical field. The author discusses the creation of an online platform, called as caBIG (pronounced see-a-big), that integrates data worldwide and provides tools for a virtual community… Read more →
I have been thinking about what one can do in virtual team meetings conducted in virtual worlds to make participants feel and react as if they are face-to-face with other participants. Part of me says that this is an “ideal” that we may never reach. At the same time, I am aware of research (more) indicating that it is possible… Read more →
What: Denver Post article about use of virtual teams and virtual worlds in education. Post to which it is related: The Future of Virtual Teams: Collaboration in 3D Web, Building Trust in Virtual Teams. Bottom line: Educators are incorporating virtual teamwork in virtual worlds that are designed specifically for student learning. Students find that this kind of learning is more… Read more →
Here are some of the latest news or articles about virtual teams that we have come across. What: CIO Whitepaper: Next-generation Collaboration (Novell sponsored IDG Research Report; registration required; also see PR Press Release). Report based on survey responses of 100 senior IT executives. Bottom line: Though it is critical for individuals in their company to collaborate securely within and… Read more →
Recently the Leading Virtually team came across an article by several academic researchers that broadly discusses whether virtual teams have potential for organizations. Their discussion was based on a research study they conducted. The authors found that virtual teams of short duration have lower performance, lower satisfaction, and a lower results-to-effort ratio. Meanwhile, one can find new articles each week… Read more →
The LeadingVirtually.com team would like to start a new feature on our blog. Periodically, we plan to post a digest of news and articles that we come across and which we believe might be interesting to our audience. Our focus will be to keep you up to date on recent news, findings, or reports related to virtual teams. We… Read more →
Betsy’s last post on the power of self-efficacy perceptions reminded me of a recent study by Professor Ellen Langer of Harvard University. I am fascinated by Prof. Langer’s ability to conduct provocative research and have used her ideas in my research on the illusion of control in spreadsheet-based decision making. Prof. Langer’s recent study, which showed that perceptions can be… Read more →
It has been almost impossible in the past year to avoid the media hype about virtual worlds and virtual teams. Virtual worlds such as Second Life have received a lot of press claiming that their existence will revolutionize the way we interact and do business. A number of high-ranked universities, including Harvard, have set up campuses and are conducting classes… Read more →
I came back from a short trip to India about two weeks ago. I made some observations during this trip which might be relevant to leaders of virtual teams. Many virtual team leaders are leading work that is accomplished partly or fully in India due to outsourcing or offshoring arrangements. I have heard from such leaders about the challenges that… Read more →
A new report from Forrester Research is encouraging businesses to consider virtual worlds as a necessary next step in helping collaboration among team members and businesses. Reports such as this strengthen our conviction that, just as the Internet revolutionized the way we communicate and collaborate with each other, virtual worlds and the 3D world wide web will soon have the same transformational effects on the way we communicate and collaborate.