Working Together Apart

Gary M. OlsonUniversity of California, Irvine

May 2011

…is done by• Judy Olson• Gary Olson• Steve Abrams• Matthew Bietz• Julia Haines

…and supported by• Army Research Institute• National Science Foundation• Google• Donald Bren Foundation

Distance

T. Allen, 1977

30 meters

“Distance Matters” -- Some Overarching Issues Ease of communication -- common ground Nature of the work -- How tight the

coupling Readiness to collaborate Technology readiness -- personal,

infrastructure

Trust Culture Time Zones

The first concept

The longer the distance between people, the less common ground they have– Definition: what is assumed to be shared

between two people who are communicating

– If you don’t have natural common ground, you have to work at it, discover what each other knows in common and build from there.

Second key concept Tightly coupled work requires

collocation Work gets reorganized so that tightly

coupled is in one location, loosely coupled crosses locations

Coupling, continued

Coupling -- extent of dependence between team members, and the ambiguity of the work, requiring high degree of interaction– loose

• an overall plan divides the work, occasional coordination checks (e.g., large scale routine design)

– moderate• more spontaneous divide and conquer

– tight• high mutual dependence for advancing the work (e.g.,

early planning of a project)

Collaboration readiness The community has to have a spirit of

collaboration. Motivation to work together:

– Mix of skills– Greater productivity– Like working together– Something in it for everyone– NOT

• Mandate from the funder• The only way to get the money• Asymmetries in value, etc.

Trust– Reliable– Produce high quality work– Have their best interests at heart

Goals aligned Group self-efficacy

Fourth key concept

Different organizations are at different developmental stages in using technology of all sorts

Collaboration Technology Readiness (both individual & infrastructure)

email attachments using repositories calendaring creating repositories Need training in hand-off collaboration technologies AND synchronous collaboration how to collaborate

Fifth key concept

Added in J. Olson et al, 2008 Distance work requires good

management and decision making principles– Cummings & Kiesler (2005) studied NSF

KDI collaborations• Collocated more successful than distributed• Distributed success associated with good

mnagement

Management plan Project manager is respected and has

project management experience Communication plan Plan has room for reflection and

redirection

No legal issues remain No financial issues remain Knowledge management system Decision making is

– Free of favoritism– Fair and open– Everyone has opportunity to influence

MIT Press, 2008

“Distance Matters” a decade on Have things changed?

Much has happened in a decade– A large amount of research on the issues

most relevant to distance work– An array of new or improved technologies– Big changes in the experience base of

those who might work at a distance

Distance Work will Only Increase 67% of companies anticipate

increased reliance on virtual teams– 80% for companies with 10,000+ employees

35% of respondents rated difficulty of management as top challenge for virtual teams

92% said trust is critical for virtual teams

• Survey by Institute for Corporate Productivity

Survey of “Hopeful Signs”

Research or technology developments that might ameliorate some of these challenges

Not all of these are yet backed up with careful evaluation

Common Ground

Routinization of knowledge management– Creative incentive schemes

Awareness support– Social computing, sharing– IM, awareness tools– Audio, video options– Social proxies

Common Ground

Workers who are always on line– More mobile options

Nature of the Work

Increased realization of need for divide and conquer

Use of face-to-face meetings to kick of a project– Organize the work

Collaboration Readiness

Better understanding of the role of incentives– Explicit contracts with

financial incentives

Importance of trust– Interventions to establish &

maintain

Collaboration Technology Readiness Many new widely

used technologies– Increased

sophistication Wider array of back

channels– IM, SMS, mobile

phones

Collaboration Technology Readiness

Technologies better designed– Easy to use– Reliable

Management and Decision Making Boom market on books,

articles on how to manage virtual teams

Recognition of leadership skills for virtual teams

Trust

Promising results on establishing & maintaining trust at a distance– Informal social interaction a key

Better support for awareness, presence– Overcome attribution errors

Culture

More awareness of the nature of cultural differences– E.g., increased sales of

Culture Shock books– New university programs

Job rotation in multinational companies

Time Zones

Adjusting work hours Routines for shift

changes Exploration of

asynchronous awareness tools

Early Progress in Climbing Himalayan Giants First 8000 meter peak climbed in 1950

– Annapurna Everest (8850 meters) first climbed in

1953 Other 12 8000 meter

peaks climbed between 1953 and1964

Characteristics of Early Climbs

Huge logistical support required– Long ascents with numerous camps

– Long preparation period

Large climbing parties– Up to a score of climbers

– Hundreds of support porters

Dominant use of oxygen Climbs confined to spring, early summer Many failures, including fatalities

Since the 1950s

Exploration of many new routes, many that were thought to be “unclimbable”

Small parties with rapid ascents Solo ascents Ascents with no oxygen Hundreds of ascents

in a given season Still dangerous

What Changed?

Better knowledge of the Himalaya– Maps, aerial surveys– Weather

More experience with climbing– New techniques– Better understanding of physiology

New, improved equipment But, still very difficult

Analogous to Distance Matters

More knowledge, experience– Organizations– Individuals

Better tools

But still difficult