Managing Communication with Technology Jonathan Grudin S TRATEGIES FOR C ONTEMPORARY T EAM L EADERSHIP

Introduction & Team Exercise Distributed Work Conflict & Conflict Management Team Design & Development Managing Team Boundaries & Culture Fuzzy Membership Strategies for Contemporary Team Leadership Day 1Day 2Day 3 Team Dynamics Distributed Teams Fostering a Collaborative Team Environment Managing Communication with Technology

3 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership About the Instructor 1968-1972BA, Math-Physics, Reed 1972-1973MS, Mathematics, Purdue 1973-1976Programmer, Wang Labs 1976-1977Psychology Department, Stanford 1977-1981PhD, Cognitive Pychology, UCSD 1981-1983Researcher, MRC Applied Psych Unit 1983-1986Software Engineer, Wang Labs 1986-1989Researcher, MCC 1989-1991Professor, Computer Science, Aarhus 1991-1998Professor, Information & CS, UC Irvine 1998- Senior Researcher, Microsoft About the Instructor 1968-1972BA, Math-Physics, Reed 1972-1973MS, Mathematics, Purdue 1973-1976Programmer, Wang Labs 1976-1977Psychology Department, Stanford 1977-1981PhD, Cognitive Pychology, UCSD 1981-1983Researcher, MRC Applied Psych Unit 1983-1986Software Engineer, Wang Labs 1986-1989Researcher, MCC 1989-1991Professor, Computer Science, Aarhus 1991-1998Professor, Information & CS, UC Irvine 1998- Senior Researcher, Microsoft

4 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership About the Instructor 1983-1986Software Engineer, Wang Labs Working on group support applications Learning about organizational obstacles 1986-1989Researcher, MCC Research on group support applications Studies of organizational practices 1989-1991Professor, Computer Science, Aarhus Studies of organizations and design 1991-1998Professor, Information & CS, UC Irvine Studies of collaboration technology adoption 1998- Senior Researcher, Microsoft Design and studies of multimedia systems More studies of technology adoption

5 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Outline Background Key messages Behavioral challenges for communication technology Managerial use Technology studies Application sharing Shared calendars Instant messaging and text messaging Weblogs Conclusion: Trends to consider

6 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Key Messages Behavioral challenges are always underestimated Now that managers are hands-on users, were really in trouble Studies of technology adoption and use are interesting The first new technology use cohort in 20 years is here Virtual worlds are arriving from an unexpected direction This is the calm before the storm

7 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Technical and Behavioral Issues: Videconferencing as an Example A simple technology intervention: Adding camera, monitor, and microphone to the familiar meeting room setting

8 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Effects of Simple Technology Intervention Center of attention shifts Person at head of table seems smaller, peripheral figures are more noticeable Camera height makes everyone in the room less imposing Normal lighting and networking can make people look ill, jerky Voice rises to be heard across room, peripheral figures may be inaudible People less animated when addressing a talking head on a monitor Even one-second transmission delays can cause considerable confusion

9 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Human Nature and Social Organization Human nature does not change Groups and teams: Have existed for millions of years Large organizations:Have existed for several thousand years

10 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Production Group Well-Being Member Support Inception Production demand and opportunity Interaction demand and opportunity Inclusion demand and opportunity Problem- Solving Technical problem-solving Role network definition Position and status attainments Conflict Resolution Policy resolution Power and payoff distribution Contribution and payoff distribution Execution PerformanceInteractionParticipation Group Functions (McGrath)

11 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Behavioral Challenges to Design and Use Effort/benefit disparities Reaching Critical Mass The Tragedy of the Commons The Prisoners Dilemma Other social and motivational factors Limits to informed intuition Low-frequency events Exception handling

12 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Required Effort vs. Perceived Benefit Assuming use provides an overall benefit to the group Which groupmembers get the most benefit? Which group members have to do more work? Consider a distributed group management application: Does the interface for the manager or the interface for individual contributors get the most attention?

13 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership The Prisoners Dilemma Management With a lawyerWithout lawyer Union With a Union: 44% Union: 67% lawyer Mgmt: 36% Mgmt: 23% Without Union: 27% Union: 56% lawyer Mgmt: 63% Mgmt: 44% Arbitration Cases (New York Times) Should unions seek legal representation? Should management? Average disputed amount won by each side (10% deducted for lawyers fees). Example: expertise-locator database in an organization

14 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Technology and Social Values privacy trust reciprocity autonomy security democracy accountability responsibility efficiency Human Values Issues Consequences of inattention lack of adoption abuse Value-Sensitive Design site: www.ischool.washington.edu/vsd

15 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Exception Handling and Ethnography Standard procedures may rarely describe real practice. They may represent or enable: An idealized goal One path to a desired outcome A useful tool for planning Efficient record-keeping by noting divergences External reassurance Internal accountability Software that enforces standard procedures may obstruct work

Distributed teams Inter-organizational

19 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Strategic Apex Middle Line Operating Core Techno- structure Support Staff Parts of an Organization (Mintzberg)

20 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership 1980s: Managers dont type. Perin study of resistance by tech company managers 1990s: Managers as late adopters CEO use rose from 21% (1989) to 76% (2002) 2000s: Managers as early adopters Why the change? New features & applications useful to managers Graphical interfaces made learning & use easier Use by friends, colleagues, at home helped learning Use by professionals & kids erased secretarial stigma (1993) Young individual contributors became middle-aged managers Old managers disappeared Direct, Hands-On Technology Use

21 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Implications New process considerations for design, acquisition, deployment New technology possibilities appear Old technology possibilities disappear Ways of using technology differ Direct, Hands-On Technology Use 1980s: Managers dont type. Perin study of resistance by tech company managers 1990s: Managers as late adopters CEO use rose from 21% (1989) to 76% (2002) 2000s: Managers as early adopters

22 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Vertical Computer Science Department, History Department, Philosophy Department, Spanish Department Marketing Division, Engineering Division, Human Resources Division, International Sales Division Horizontal Students, Faculty, Administrators Individual contributors, Managers, Executives Which sets of people in an organization interact and have a shared sense of efficient work practices? Two Ways to Partition an Organization

23 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Strategic Apex Middle Line Operating Core Activity in Organizations

24 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Strategic Apex Middle Line Operating Core All meetings Many meetings Few meetings Very political Efficacy/sensitivity tradeoff Not political Heavy delegation Some delegation No delegation Activity in Organizations

26 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: Use of Application-Sharing

27 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: Use of Application-Sharing Four teams using NetMeeting and conference calls One team varied its physical configuration Application-sharing added value Audio-conferencing alone unsatisfactory for some meetings Access to last minute changes, high quality images More efficient synchronization than typing URLs Shared reference improves efficiency of distributed teams Conference room with remote sitesTwo conference rooms

28 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Attendance Record of One Team Meeting Date Number of Attendees Audio conferencing NetMeetingFace-to-face meeting

29 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Number of Sites by Technology Phase Number of Sites Meeting Date NetMeeting Audio conferencing Face-to-face meeting

30 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Number of Attendees Bellevue Site Meeting Date Aug 1995 Oct 1995 Dec 1995 Feb 1996 Apr 1996 Jun 1996 Aug 1996 Oct 1996 Dec 1996 Feb 1997 Apr 1997 Jun 1997 Aug 1997 Oct 1997 Dec 1997 Feb 1998 Apr 1998 Jun 1998 Aug 1998 Oct 1998 Dec 1998 Greater Seattle (remote) Sites Audio conferencing NMFace-to-face meeting Distribution By Site

31 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Satisfaction: FTF vs Distributed Meetings

32 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Challenges for Distributed Meetings Motivating adoption at remote sites Building trust and motivation remotely Audio quality -- consistently underestimated Meetings delayed by struggle to get synched Designed for dyads, not managers and groups Difficult to visualize remote who, what, why Are they pausing for a comma, or a period? Face to face yields more spontaneity, side discussions I hear the voice, but there is a vacancy for the whole human being. Meeting and technology facilitators emerged in the most successful team (but not the others)

33 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: Shared Calendars 1980-1990: Rarely used Management mandate needed? Early 1990s: Use spreads Study of shared calendars at Sun, MS, Boeing Interviews with over 100 users 2500 responses to online survey at Sun and MS Results Bottom-up adoption Infrastructure, features, interface improved Default settings overwhelmingly used Use is heavily based on activity pattern or role

34 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Executives Live on the road, schedule far in advance Meeting invitations dangerous Printing very important Privacy very important Managers and admins Live from calendars, reminders unnecessary Meeting invitations very useful Printing important Benefits of very open sharing far outweigh privacy Individual contributors Live at desks, reminders popular Meeting invitations an incentive to use Printing unimportant Privacy can be a concern, often unwarranted Calendar Use Varies With Role

35 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership NetGen: Bringing A Second CMC Revolution New technologies IM and text messaging Weblogs New Behaviors Multi-tasking Multimedia authoring Search-and-browse Parallels earlier generation that brought email and word processing That generation embraced Web but not these

36 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Email in 1984 Used mostly by students Used by everyone Access limited to friends Accessible to everyone Clients not interoperable Complete interoperability Conversations ephemeral Conversations saved Chosen for informality Became the formal option Organizational distrust: Chit-chat? ROI? Mission-critical technology IM in 2004 Used mostly by students Use spreading rapidly Access limited to friends Pressure to remove limits Clients not interoperable Pressure for interoperability Conversations ephemeral Recording is more common Chosen for informality Becoming more formal Organizational distrust: Chit-chat? ROI? Will be mission-critical! is evolvingand today A Tale of Two Technologies

37 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: IM in Company and Community Personal use correlates with productivity estimates Distributed groups and heavy phone users love it Managers and older users use it differently Frequent requests: better client-side saving, firewall traversal, more reliable file- and status-sharing, easier set-up Critical mass needed within a workgroup

38 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Case Study: IM in Company and Community Findings from Puget Sound Area ethnography Broad familiarity with technology Choice of communication channel driven by activity pattern and peers Students use IM at school but not on summer vacation Adults switch to and from IM based on urgency Blog awareness low but blogging+IMing can reduce email use NetGen may have different stance toward privacy

39 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership What Is a Blog? Frequently-updated website composed of posts in reverse-chronological order The front page is the interesting part Fostering discussion (on or off the blog) Web discussion board through comments Posts often link to other posts Inbound links (trackback) Authorship, audience, topics, and media vary

40 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Web UI Client App Blog Server Web Browser Aggre- gator rss weblogs.com Google Technorati Daypop etc. Blog Server Robert Scobles Five Pillars of Conversational Software 1.Easy to publish 2.Discoverable 3.Reveal social patterns 4.Permalinks 5.Syndication How Blogs Work

41 Managing Communication with Technology Strategies For Contemporary Team Leadership Team Leadership The management of . Definition

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Managing Communication with Technology Jonathan Grudin S TRATEGIES FOR C ONTEMPORARY T EAM L EADERSHIP