13,056 research outputs found

    Fitting the Communication Forum to the Mediation Fuss: Choosing the Appropriate Communication Mode for Mediation in the Post-Pandemic World

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    Since the COVID-19 pandemic, mediations have shifted dramatically from face-to-face settings to the virtual realm, resulting in the widespread acceptance of using virtual communication channels, including videoconferencing, audio calls, and text messaging. With the waning of the pandemic, mediators and parties presently face a plethora of choices in fitting their mediation to the appropriate communication channel. Thus, having an accurate, evidence-based understanding of different communication modes’ impact on mediation is necessary to design an optimal mediation process. Some decades ago, Sander and Goldberg formulated the phrase “fitting the forum to the fuss” to describe the process of choosing the most appropriate dispute resolution option to fit characteristics of each dispute and parties’ needs. Currently, there is a palpable need for the fitting of a rather different forum—the mode of communication—to the fuss. This article discusses how parties can best customize the mediation process by fitting the “communication forum” to the “mediation fuss.” To understand the characteristics of communication forums, the article draws from a range of disciplines to distil the relevant research on four modes of communication: face-to-face interaction, videoconferencing, audio calls, and text messaging. The article proposes discerning the “mediation fuss” by examining disputants’ objectives, likely obstacles to resolution, and the likely mediation model to be utilized. It argues that these factors enable the mediator to ascertain which of five goals are most applicable to the particular dispute: building of rapport and trust; facilitating mutual understanding of perspectives and interests; managing power imbalances and safety concerns; ensuring procedural justice; and encouraging creative and collaborative problem-solving. Relying on current research findings, the article analyzes the impact of differing communication forums on these five mediation goals. Lastly, it proposes a basic framework for fitting the communication forum to the mediation fuss. This framework aims to encourage mediators to consider, in consultation with the parties, the most appropriate communication mode to convene mediation for the particular dispute and to thoughtfully modify their mediation techniques and tools to suit the relevant communication mode

    Creativity in Remote and Hybrid Work Environments

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    Workplace creativity is crucial for innovation and navigation in a dynamic technology-driven world. This dissertation sheds light on individual and group creativity within flexible work arrangements (FWA), an expanding yet understudied field. Specifically, the four appended research papers explore creativity in two remote work settings – work from home (WFH) and corporate coworking (working remotely from coworking spaces), as well as within hybrid work combining remote and office work. The overarching research objective is to understand how creativity unfolds in remote and hybrid work environments. The papers include a systematic literature review on corporate coworking and creativity, a quantitative study of creative performance in an enforced WFH setting, a phenomenological study of collective creativity, and a case study investigating creative processes in a hybrid work environment. All the papers are intertwined with the profound shifts in work practices occurring before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings emphasize the importance of social interaction and knowledge sharing for workplace creativity. In remote work settings, challenges due to digital communication barriers and complexities of building social ties and trust are identified. Extensive use of digital platforms during the initial pandemic lockdown was found to promote creative performance. In contrast, information technology (IT) professionals working from home experienced that the absence of informal face-to-face (FTF) interaction hindered creativity. However, well-facilitated digital sessions triggered collective creativity. Analysis of creative processes in a multinational technology company suggested that in-person interaction was favorable for problem identification, whereas idea generation should be conducted either entirely remotely or FTF. Hybrid work in real time was perceived beneficial for idea evaluation only. By combining the two research fields of creativity and FWA, this dissertation expands both literatures. Utilizing social capital theory and social information processing theory deepens our understanding of the social dynamics of creativity in remote and hybrid work. Organizations should design physical and digital work environments that promote informal social interaction, knowledge sharing, and a creative climate. To facilitate creativity, this dissertation recommends hybrid models that balance employee and employer needs, and optimize the benefits of both FTF interaction and remote work.publishedVersio

    ICT-driven interactions: on the dynamics of mediated control

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    Interactions driven by Information Communications Technologies (ICT) have gained significant acceptance and momentum in contemporary organisational settings, this is illustrated by their massive adoption and varied deployment across the various levels of an organisation’s hierarchy. ICTs such as mobile telephones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), videoconferencing, BlackBerries and other forms of portable and immovable computing technologies provide enduring bases for mediated interactions in human activities. This thesis looks into the dynamics of ICT-driven interactions and, distinctively, focuses on the manifestations and implications of mediated control in a collaborative environment. The study draws on the concept of administrative behaviour which leads to the observation that the nature of mediated control is not static, but evolutionarily dynamic that springs from highly unpredictable contexts of work. Thus, interactions driven by ICTs influence and change the dynamics of mediated control against the background of the rhythm, structure and direction of an organisation’s purposeful undertakings. Findings indicate, quite paradoxically, that networks set up through the instrumentality of technology mediated interaction discourage domination and inspire individual discretion in spite of their promise of electronic chains. The analysis reflects the notion that mediated control is not only about the predetermination of targets that are attained at the subordinate level. Indeed, the study advocates a fundamental conceptualisation of mediated control as double-sided concept, integrating the use of discretion that, occasionally, makes subordinates drive and initiate key control techniques that steer organisational life. Therefore, through the application of philosophical hermeneutics for a rigorous data interpretation, this study develops an innovative and holistic understanding of mediated control which not only adds to, but also extends, the current organisational perception of control by the incorporation of discretion and, in the process, makes a distinctive contribution to scholarship

    SID 04, Social Intelligence Design:Proceedings Third Workshop on Social Intelligence Design

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    Workspace methodologies : studying communication, collaboration and workscapes

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    This report consists of descriptions of methods, which are used for studying, evaluating and developing workplaces. Work environments are analyzed as layers or imbedded levels: as physical, virtual and mental/social spaces. In this analysis, Kurt Lewin's classical psychological concept 'Life Space' is used as well as the concept 'ba' provided by Nonaka, Toyama and Konno. 'Ba' refers to socially shared space, where people create, share and use knowledge. The concept of Ba unifies the physical space, such as an office space, the virtual space, such as e-mail, and the mental or social space, such as common experiences, ideas, values, and ideals shared by people with common goals as a working context. A hypothesis is that the support and/or hindrances of these spaces have a crucial influence on the activities of employees, groups and organizations. To design and develop workplaces it is fundamental to identify these facilitating and hindering work context characteristics. For this purpose, various methods are needed to collect data, to analyze it, to describe and model the environments, and to analyze their quality. In this report, some only methods are described. They are: social network analysis, sketching and photographing methods, communication analysis, work requirement and well-being analysis, simulation game method and multidisciplinary workplace study methodology. The described methods are examples of approaches and methods meant to cling to the challenges of workplace design.TÀmÀ raportti koostuu työtilojen tutkimisessa, arvioinnissa ja kehittÀmisessÀ kÀytettyjen tiedonkeruu- ja analysointimenetelmien kuvauksista. Työn toimintaympÀristöÀ eritellÀÀn eri tasoina tai kerrostumina: fyysisinÀ, virtuaalisina ja henkisinÀ/sosiaalisina tiloina. TasoerittelyssÀ hyödynnetÀÀn Kurt Lewinin klassista, yksilöpsykologista 'elÀmÀntila' kÀsitettÀ sekÀ Nonakan, Toyaman ja Konnon kÀsitettÀ 'ba'. Ba tarkoittaa sosiaalisesti jaettua tilaa, jossa olevat ihmiset luovat, jakavat ja kÀyttÀvÀt tietoa. 'Ba' yhdistÀÀ fyysisen tilan, kuten toimisto, virtuaalisen tilan, kuten sÀhköposti, ja henkisen tai sosiaalisen tilan, kuten yhteisesti jaetut kokemukset, ideat ja ihanteet. Oletuksena on, ettÀ nÀiden tilojen tarjoama tuki ja esteet vaikuttavat keskeisellÀ tavalla yksittÀisten työntekijöiden, ryhmien ja organisaatioiden toimintaan. Työpaikkojen suunnittelun ja kehittÀmisen kannalta on olennaista tunnistaa toimintaa helpottavia ja estÀviÀ tekijöitÀ. TÀhÀn tarvitaan erilaisia menetelmiÀ kerÀtÀ työtiloja koskevaa tietoa, analysoida sitÀ, kuvata nÀitÀ ympÀristöjÀ ja arvioida niiden laatua. Raportin kirjoituksissa kuvataan joitakin menetelmiÀ. Kuvatut menetelmÀt ovat: sosiaalisten verkostojen analyysimenetelmÀt, piirros- ja valokuvamenetelmÀ, kommunikaatioanalyysi, kuormitustekijÀ- ja hyvinvointianalyysi, simulaatiopelimenetelmÀ ja monitieteinen työpaikkojen tutkimusmetodologia. Esitellyt menetelmÀt ovat esimerkkejÀ tavoista paneutua työpaikkojen tutkimuksen haasteisiin

    Beyond Orality and Literacy: Letters and Organizational Communication

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    We draw on communication theories to study organizational communication from a literacy perspective. We suggest that the current debate over the capability of new media to foster the sharing and development of ideas and allow the expression of emotions, which presupposes face-to-face communication as the ideal form of communication, disappears once we switch the focus from the medium to the modality – written versus oral communication. An analysis of personal and organizational letters illustrates the role played by written communication throughout human history, in exchanging ideas and supporting emotionalOrality and Literacy; Online Interactions; Communicative Practices; Letters; Organizational Communication

    Virtual Teams: The Impact of Varying Levels of Virtuality on Project Team Performance

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    Although virtual teams have existed for over two decades, in recent years the Covid-19 pandemic led to a wider adoption and transition to virtual teamwork by most organizations. Virtuality is operationalized as the proportion of work done remotely or virtually on a project. This research studies the moderating effects of virtuality in project teams on communication frequency, leadership effectiveness, and project team performance. Using the theoretical frameworks of Adaptive Structuration Theory and Transformational Leadership Theory, a survey was carried out that informed this cross-sectional study. Respondents were project team members and managers who were involved in AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) and Finance/IT projects before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study showed that the inverted-u relationship between communication frequency and project performance was preserved in only low virtuality teams, while the shape of the curve was different for high virtuality teams. AEC project performance was also found to be more sensitive to communication frequency, as these projects exhibited inverted-u relationship with performance compared to Finance/IT projects which was more linear. Regardless of the levels of virtuality in project teams, transformational leadership leads to significantly better performance in both types of projects. This study contributes to the body of literature in project management and information systems by measuring one of several dimensions of virtuality in the proposed model and provides insights for project managers in industry to better lead their virtual project teams
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