I was participating on Sep 3 at TKK in VMStan Seminar, in which I was also lecturing.
Renate Fruchter, Stanford University via video on-demand.
- how to work together while personnel located in Asia, Europe and Americas
- what is the nature of collaborative team workers?
– collaboration technology & services
– theory & ethnographic
– practice in education and industry
– iterative approach
- global teamwork ecosystem
– people
— vertical markets
—- students
—- faculty
—- industry
– places
— private
—- home
—- office
— local
—- coffeehouse
—- meetingroom
— regional
—- lab
— global
—- PBL-Hubs-Network
– collaboration technologies
— informal
—- talking paper
—- ReCall
—- Divas
—- BrainMerge
— formal
—- ThinkTank
—- ProMem
—- CoMem
– devices
— XXS Cell
— XS PDA
— S Tablet PC
— M Desktop
— L Smartboard
— XL iRoom
– network infrastructure
— fixed
—- LAN/WAN
—- internet-2
— mobile
—- WiFi
—- GSM/GRPS
- bits (virtual), bricks (physical) & interaction (social)
– all of these has been built by different persons
– knowledge workers are forced to be between these elements, therefore it is important to look at this holistically in order to start discussion in your organizations
- fusion of physical, digital and virtual
– cases: physical labs linked with the telepresence with other sites (videoconference meeting) in Puerto Rico and in Germany
– case: three Smartboards in a room
– case: virtualworld – bringing 3D model handled by avatars used by persons in different locations
– case: social interaction aspect socializing in Second Life
questions:
- cultural issues in virtual collaboration?
- Avatar-utilized simulations like Forterra (dark hotel evacuation example)
- Second Life demo while TKK (Aalto university) establishing a new island etc.
.jpg "Virpi Ruohomäki")
Virpi Ruohomäki, Visiting Scholar at Stanford University
Integrated workplaces for new ways of working - case: Sun Microsystems from Silicon Valley, CA
- cases: HP, Cisco, Sun done
- places, people and technology
– in Finnish organizations these issues are handled in different departments or silos, meaning uncoordinated strategies and actions
- new ways of working seminar results
– integrated working initiative in Sun Microsystems already for 12 years (Eric Richter)
– pilot project in Great Britain, open work solutions now in 140 countries
– SUN = Stanford University Network, as well as HP, Cisco, Google etc. have been emerged from Stanford University activities
- working places
– in whereever and in whatever time
– flexible for visiting purposes or for longer time reservations
– one ID card does open the doors as well as the PCs + normal office suppliers + integrated VOIP telephony system following the person and guaranteeing the VOIP.
– teamwork rooms
– private offices
– cafe drop-in offices utilizing work/catering including single, team and private possibilities
– global reservation systems using the ID card reserving a room in Rome when at Santa Clara
– standing offices + also garden used for meeting
– 35000 utilizing the remote working + 20000 totally virtual (10 % totally working at home)
– personnel making the initiatives while 73 % totally satisfied for this flexibility
– all the managers are trained
– management principle: goal-oriented leading, availability based on the rules/the districts + participation should be guaranteed
- egological awareness now rapidly grown in the Silicon Valley, which gives challenges towards to this model + virtual management will be continuously trained
- Voip + PCs integrated
.jpg "Niina Nurmi")
Niina Nurmi, Visiting Researcher at Stanford University
- Context, job conditions, job demands -> performance
- contect, job conditions, job demands -> psychological well-being
– positive affect
– job engagement
– job satisfaction
– autonomy
– personal growth
- stress at work
– reduction in quality/quantity at work
– indecisiveness
– tiredness
– loss sense of humor
– stress is invisible at virtual work
Team Processes:
- 1 Group formation
– kick-off face-to-face -> role clarity, trust and responsiveness
– jointly developed goals, schedules, protocols and shared processes
– remember cultural differences (agressive culture are often dominant like EU/US not Asian)
- 2 Time management
– time separation due to timezones causing delays for the projects
– collaboration takes time due to timezones (effective time for meeting is limited)
– remember to clarify goals, roles and responsibilities as well as use subgroups
- 3 Performance management
– follow up, evaluations and feedback
– cultural differences in hierarchy as well as giving feedback
- 4 power tension management
– Risk in achieving the task compliance, missing due dates
– distance to HQ and cultural diversity (e.g. language, work behavior and attitude) increase power differences
– power will be increased: site visits, virtual visibility, access to information and resources (transparency), knowledge networks
- 5 conflict management
– conflicts often reflect power tensions
– language barriers, differences in behavior and misunderstandings
– understand cultural differences: avoidance vs. competitive stance
– remember to communicate and be patient !
Communications
- 6 knowledge sharing
– interpersonal trust (removing threat), interpersonal bond (stability) -> organizational commitment -> sharing info, ideas and knowledge
-> reaching the shared understanding -> team performance
- 7 Technology Utilization
– team selects its own communication technologies, ensure the selected technologies are flexible and ensure that everybody knows the technologies
- 8 Communication Risk Management
– risk 1: technical problem and non-response
— use multiple media, zip large attachment
— follow-up with phone call
— send the message to multiple recipients
— keep the manager in loop during interactions
– risk 2: risk of understanding
— ICT-enabled strategies
—- use digital meetings
—- use of email to document a conversation
— individual level strategies
— organize presentation
— adapt language into simple without a slang
— ask questions during the presentation