April 30, 2009 Vol. 2 Issue 4
Keeping up with team members working in different locations is a common difficulty on virtual teams, according to a study by Microsoft.
One of the challenges of working on a team that includes members in different locations is maintaining awareness of what co-workers are doing. Microsoft conducted a web-based survey of both internal employees and external individuals who work on teams with members in multiple locations, and found differences between remotely located workers and those collocated with colleagues in an office setting. Remote workers were more likely than collocated office workers to disagree that it was easy to stay aware of what co-workers were working on and what was going on in their lives.
The survey of 549 individuals reflected the composition of the high-tech workforce. A strong majority were males (86%) between the ages of 20 and 49 (86%). Nearly nine in ten (89%) said they spent 75% of their time at a computer.
Read more about “Exploring Awareness Needs and Information Display Preferences Between Coworkers.”
