The effects of multimedia communication technology on non-collocated teams: a case study

Collaborative teams are becoming increasingly important for industry, both within and across companies. There is a need for communication technology t o support teams because many teams are non-collocated, or 'virtual'. Two au tomotive supply chain teams were observed while they were experimenting wit h multimedia conferencing in order to determine what support non-collocated teams need and the potential effects of introducing technologies on their group processes. The observations included meeting recordings and other sou rces t hat show the organizational factors affecting teams. Working in team s requires very close collaboration. Communication technology can help team s if it is used to foster close and relatively informal person-to-person in teraction. Organizational constraints on how the technology is introduced f avour high-technology, special-purpose installations, but teams can best be supported using relatively modest equipment with desktop access.