Our research provided empirical evidence about the alternative means o
f communication used by 25 members of a research group who had availab
le to them: unscheduled face-to-face encounters, scheduled face-to-fac
e meetings, electronic mail, telephone, fax, and desktop videoconferen
cing. The intent of our research is to learn whether there are element
s in existing group communication patterns that suggest how future com
munication systems can be designed or selected to fit the actual work
relationships of a group. A detailed social network survey provided in
formation about what members of the group communicated about, how they
communicated, and with whom they communicated. Most communication was
done through a combination of media, but predominately through unsche
duled encounters, electronic mail, and scheduled meetings; people rare
ly videoconferenced, telephoned, or faxed. Factor analysis reduced the
24 work relationships to six distinct dimensions: receiving work, giv
ing work, collaborative writing, major emotional support, sociability,
and computer programming. The proportion in which the three main medi
a were used varied according to the nature of the work dimension. Our
findings suggest that a multivariate perspective that considers group
norms and practices, social networks, and work dimensions is necessary
to analyze media use.