Collaboration Structure, Communication Media, and Problems in Scientific Work Teams

Abstract

This article reviews the structural characteristics of work organizations that are likely to increase collaboration problems and tests the relationships between collaboration structure and problems using data from a survey of scientists in four fields (experimental biology, mathematics, physics, and sociology). Two groups of problems are identified: problems of coordination and misunderstandings and problems of cultural differences and information security. Greater coordination problems are associated with size, distance, interdependence, and scientific competition. Problems of culture and security are associated with size, distance, scientific competition, and commercialization. Email use is associated with reporting fewer coordination problems, but not fewer problems of culture and security, while neither phone use nor face-to-face meetings significantly reduces problems. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for designers of collaboration technologies and researchers involved in scientific collaborations.

Human-centered e-science: A group-theoretic perspective on cyberinfrastructure design

“…Research into communication needs of CI users strengthens this claim, showing the need to support diverse technological and communicative needs of groups operating within CI environments [23,26,38]. As such, CI tools are developed with a range of synchronous and asynchronous communication and collaboration tools to match the needs of groups of various sizes and types [23,26].…”

“…As such, CI tools are developed with a range of synchronous and asynchronous communication and collaboration tools to match the needs of groups of various sizes and types [23,26]. However, balancing the type and amount of telecommunication services offered is especially difficult in the area of scientific collaboration [38].…”

“…Early organizational and collaboration research identifies the value of informal, direct, two-way communication when dealing with the complex and uncertain environment of scientific work [38]. However, recent work demonstrates that synchronous communication tools sometimes requires such high coordination costs that it may result in a loss of collaboration effectiveness [38].…”

“…However, recent work demonstrates that synchronous communication tools sometimes requires such high coordination costs that it may result in a loss of collaboration effectiveness [38]. As such, there is growing interest in developing communication technologies for CI environments that provide a range of technical-problem solving options including automated updates of work progress, off-line processing of work, and the ability to answer quick questions without demanding immediate responses [23,38].…”

“…Unfortunately, the specification of context of work creates problems for remote collaboration due to the difficulties of fully specifying cultural norms and intricate task interdependence. Understanding context is more central to the issue of remote collaboration than the disciplinary status of group members [38]. In other words, group members of the same discipline with similar professional backgrounds readily and often fail to develop a context of work in collaboration.…”