Comments on: Virtual Teams http://shiftmode.com/2006/11/virtual-teams.html zeros and ones Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:19:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: brydon http://shiftmode.com/2006/11/virtual-teams.html#comment-169 brydon Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:33:34 +0000 http://shiftmode.com/2006/11/virtual-teams.html#comment-169 I'm with you. We spend almost all our time working remotely but we strive for opportunities to meet face to face. In some ways I think you have to know and trust each other more to make working remotely successful. Having said that, the same problems that will cause working remotely to fail are the same problems you'd encounter sitting in the same office. In some cases, working remotely just accelerates things. I'm sure better technology will improve it but any technological solution is still a hack and can't ever be viewed as a replacement for what you called "sensory connectedness". I’m with you. We spend almost all our time working remotely but we strive for opportunities to meet face to face. In some ways I think you have to know and trust each other more to make working remotely successful.

Having said that, the same problems that will cause working remotely to fail are the same problems you’d encounter sitting in the same office. In some cases, working remotely just accelerates things.

I’m sure better technology will improve it but any technological solution is still a hack and can’t ever be viewed as a replacement for what you called “sensory connectedness”.

]]> By: Bob http://shiftmode.com/2006/11/virtual-teams.html#comment-166 Bob Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:23:51 +0000 http://shiftmode.com/2006/11/virtual-teams.html#comment-166 Working virtual has a pleasing sound and I would think allows individuals to work much smarter than in an office setting. One piece I find that missing when working without face to face is what I will call "sensory connectedness". Often I find that my verbal over the phone conversations or email is misinterpreted and what I need is to see visually people’s reactions. Call it quantum or what ever you like but without an observer, sometimes focus is lost and those office meetings I so much dread become a valuable tool to make sure everyone is on the same page. Perhaps better techologies bridge this gap. Working virtual has a pleasing sound and I would think allows individuals to work much smarter than in an office setting. One piece I find that missing when working without face to face is what I will call “sensory connectedness”. Often I find that my verbal over the phone conversations or email is misinterpreted and what I need is to see visually people’s reactions. Call it quantum or what ever you like but without an observer, sometimes focus is lost and those office meetings I so much dread become a valuable tool to make sure everyone is on the same page. Perhaps better techologies bridge this gap.

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