Howe School Alliance for Technology Management
Roundtable Meeting Announcement
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
12:30 - 4:00 PM (Lunch 11:30-12:30)
The next HSATM Roundtable meeting will take place on Wednesday, February 11, 2009, at ISO (545 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ) from 12:30-4:00 PM. A networking luncheon will be served 11:30-12:30. The subject of this meeting will be:
Managing the Complexities of the Virtual Work Environment: Use of Social Networking and Communication Technologies
As background, at the September 2008 Roundtable meeting, Don Gulliksen of JTSi opened up the subject of the new tools available for people and organizations to collaborate in cyberspace. At the November Roundtable, Professors Pat Holahan and Ann Mooney of the Howe School presented conclusions of their early-stage research on some of the challenges that virtual collaboration presents.
At the upcoming Roundtable, we plan to delve more deeply into both topics: how the new social networking technologies may promote increased intra and inter-organizational communication and innovation, as well as some of the constraints of communication technologies with respect to virtual teamwork, particularly team decision-making and conflict management. Don Gulliksen of JTSi will facilitate a discussion of the changing landscape of skills and tools needed to be innovative in today’s global economy. Pat Holahan and Ann Mooney will facilitate a discussion on the challenges and management of team conflict in the virtual environment.
In preparation for the discussion, we ask attendees to consider some of the following questions before the meeting:
- In your organization, what have been the disadvantages of people working virtually?
- What has your organization tried to help overcome some of the disadvantages?
- Has the need to protect intellectual property or national security impacted the use of virtual teams in your organization?
- From your experience, how are teams working in cyberspace the same as or different from co-located teams?
- What has been your experience with managing team conflict in the virtual environment?
- How might the choice of new networking and communication technologies help/hinder conflict management in the virtual environment?
- Does your organization do any specific training in the virtual communication technologies? What is the nature?
- Are there virtual communications technologies you would like to see used that are not currently employed? What is holding back their adoption?
- What mechanisms, if any, does your organization employ to develop virtual teams?
And if experience with the use of virtual teams in your organization is limited, don’t worry; you’ll come away from the meeting with a much better appreciation of how your organization can put this powerful approach to innovation to more effective use!
