A study on the success of group formation and cohesiveness in virtual teams using computer-mediated communications

While the Internet is a major business tool nowadays, individuals are still challenged to form team s and collaboration virtually. To evaluate the success of team formation in a virtual setting, this research study assessed the role of different computer – mediated communications (CMC) employed on the success of team formation measured by task performance (TP), team cohesiveness (TC), computer skills (CS) and social bond (SB), while assessing the differences on such relationships when controlled for gender, age, education level, academic major, as well as academic year. This research used analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to address the hypotheses proposed. Using three teams and 140 participants, the results indicated that there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed on the level of perception of CS in team formation. Also, there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed on the levels of TP, when controlled for gender .In addition, there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (No - CMS/F2F,OLS,&OLS+SNS) on the levels of CS, when controlled for education, academic major and academic year. The results of this study contribute to the body of knowledge by helping organizations identify ways to support effective team formations

The Relationship of Collaboration Technologies and Cognition and Affect

Collaboration technologies (CT) are integral for today’s workplaces and the use of CT impacts human brain and behavior. The consequences on cognition and affect of CT users have been empirically investigated since the 1970s. However, the research landscape is scattered and a comprehensive overview is missing. Consequently, we systematically analyze research about the relationship of CT and cognitive and affective user states and processes through an advanced systematic literature review based on the conceptual foundation of the time-space matrix, the stimulus-organism-response paradigm, and the workplace outcomes framework. Our results show an increase in remote CT, alongside a focus on individual analysis and affective constructs, while group level studies concentrate relatively stronger on collocated scenarios. We contribute with avenues for future research like the underrepresentation of group level analysis, a need for unified conceptualization and understanding of cognitive and affective constructs in theory and for deriving design knowledge to create advanced, cognition- and affect-sensitive CT features

Supporting group coherence in a museum visit

Visiting museums as part of a group poses the challenge of managing engagement with exhibits while preserving group cohesion. We respond to this by reconfiguring the social dynamic of visiting with an experience designed specifically for groups, that invites the group members themselves to design and ‘gift’ interpretations to one another. We present a trial of this experience with groups of family and friends at a museum. We show how groups managed and configured themselves during the visit, revealing the strategies involved in maintaining different group behaviors. We discuss how our design accommodated different visiting styles by making objects social and scaffolding rather than directing the group experience. We interpret our findings to frame group coherence as a flexible and configurable phenomenon within CSCW

Supporting group coherence in a museum visit

Visiting museums as part of a group poses the challenge of managing engagement with exhibits while preserving group cohesion. We respond to this by reconfiguring the social dynamic of visiting with an experience designed specifically for groups, that invites the group members themselves to design and ‘gift’ interpretations to one another. We present a trial of this experience with groups of family and friends at a museum. We show how groups managed and configured themselves during the visit, revealing the strategies involved in maintaining different group behaviors. We discuss how our design accommodated different visiting styles by making objects social and scaffolding rather than directing the group experience. We interpret our findings to frame group coherence as a flexible and configurable phenomenon within CSCW

A Study of the Success of Group Formation in Virtual Teams Using Computer-Mediated Communications

In the digital domain, virtual teams within organizations and corporations are becoming common. Restructuring an organization or corporation is vital because competition and globalization are increasing. In this era of globalization, distributed working groups need to develop a competitive advantage in these ever-changing environments. Historically, teams had experienced problems stemming from geographical and temporal limitations. With the increase of technology in telecommunications, organizations are increasingly forming virtual teams, which have become critical to the survival of nearly any corporate entity. Virtual teams have some of the same problems that regular teams have. One of the key challenges is the method of forming teams, while such challenge is exacerbated in digital environments. Despite the difficulties, the digital environment has made successful team development all the more challenging. The variation in people\u27s skills makes the formation of teams even more difficult. This is why organizations cannot determine in advance if a virtual team will be a success. To evaluate the success of team formation in a virtual setting, this research study assessed the role of different computer-mediated communications (CMC) levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the success of team formation measured by the level of task performance (TP), team cohesiveness (TC), computer skills (CS) and social bond (SB), while assessing the differences on such relationships when controlled for demographic information such as gender, age, education level, academic major, as well as academic year. Empirical data was collected from students at the Medical Sciences Campus in the University of Puerto Rico with 140 usable records. Using three teams and 140 participants, the results indicated that there is a statistically significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the level of perception of CS in team formation. Significant differences were also found in the role of CMC levels employed on the levels of TP, when controlled for gender. In addition, there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the levels of CS, when controlled for education, academic major and academic year. The outcomes of the study contributed to the body of knowledge for both practice and research, to help organizations identify ways to support effective team formations in virtual environments

Gifting personalised trajectories in museums and galleries

The designers of digital technologies for museums and galleries are increasingly interested in facilitating rich interpretations of a collection’s exhibits that can be personalised to meet the needs of a diverse range of individual visitors. However, it is commonplace to visit these settings in small groups, with friends or family. This sociality of a visit can significantly affect how visitors experience museums and their objects, but current guides can inhibit group interaction, especially when the focus is on personalisation towards individuals. This thesis develops an approach to tackling the combined challenge of fostering rich interpretation, delivering personalised content and supporting a social visit. Three studies were undertaken in three different museum and gallery settings. A visiting experience was developed for pairs of visitors to a sculpture garden, drawing upon concepts from the trajectories framework (Benford et al., 2009). Next, a study at a contemporary art gallery investigated how gift-giving could be used as a mechanism for personalisation between visitors who know each other well. Finally, the third study, at an arts and history museum, explored how gift-giving could be applied to small groups of friends and family. The thesis reports on how the approach enabled visitors to design highly personal experiences for one another and analyses how groups of visitors negotiated these experiences together in the museum visit, to reveal how this type of self-design framework for engaging audiences in a socially coherent way leads to rich, stimulating visits for the whole group and each individual member. The thesis concludes by recommending the design and gifting of museum and gallery interpretation experiences as a method for providing deeply personalised experiences, increasing visitor participation, and delivering meaningful group experiences