Talking a team into being in online workplace collaborations: The discourse of virtual work

Abstract

Digital communication technologies led to a revolution in how people interact at work: relying on computer-mediated communication technologies is now a must, rather than an alternative. This empirical study investigates how colleagues in a virtual team use synchronous online communication platform in the workplace. Inspired by the conceptualisation of web-based communication platforms as tool, place or context of social construction, we explore the discursive strategies that contribute to the construction of the team’s shared sense of purpose and identity, a collegial atmosphere and consequently lead to effective collaboration. The close analyses of real-life data from a multinational workplace provide insights into the everyday communication practices of virtual team members. Our findings supplement organisational literature based on etic observations of the effectiveness of virtual work and provide a basis for further theorisations about how communication technologies affect the ecology of and discourse practices in computer-mediated communication at work.

Putting Research into Practice: Beyond Textbook Email Task Design for Pre-experience Business English Learners

“…Overall, using appropriate discourse conventions in email supports Darics and Gatti’s (2019) findings that the use of digital technologies has dramatically changed how people interact at work. Knowing how to write concise emails with a clear, audience-oriented purpose is an important skill in interacting successfully through digital media in order to achieve effective collaboration between the two parties.…”

“…In a recent study on digital communication, Darics and Gatti (2019) highlight the impact that advances in information and communication technologies have had on workplace practices and observe that ‘Digital communication technologies led to a revolution in how people interact at work: relying on computer-mediated communication technologies is now a must, rather than an alternative’ (Darics and Gatti, 2019: 237). Their study deconstructs the nature of the skills that people now need to interact successfully through digital media, and this allows them to conclude that effective writers are those who generate a shared sense of purpose in their (digital) communication, creating a relationship between themselves and the recipient of the communication.…”

“…While studies like those of Darics and Gatti (2019) and Gimenez (2014) have looked at the underlying skills that are needed in successfully engaging with digital communication in general, others have looked specifically at the nature of email messages. Over the course of the last two decades, for instance, several studies within the ESP discipline have focussed on the business email (Nickerson, 2000; Bremner and Costley, 2018; Cheng and Mok, 2008; Gains, 1999; Louhiala-Salminen, 2002; Warren, 2013).…”

“…Bremner, 2008; Bremner, 2010; Evans, 2012). Furthermore, recent research into CMC in the workplace has identified other skills that are needed in communicating effectively through the medium of email that are generally not covered in textbook materials, such as the ability to create a shared sense of purpose and identity, the ability to understand different audiences and accommodate them in different messages, and the ability to recognize and create inter-linkages between email and spoken communication in the form of intertextuality or interdiscursivity (Nickerson, 2018; Nickerson and Planken, 2016; Bremner and Costley, 2018; Darics and Gatti, 2019; Gimenez, 2014; Zhang, 2013). In this study, we will be discussing a recent project carried out with high-proficiency learners of business English located in the UAE with little or no previous knowledge of business, which aimed to help them develop the CMC skills they will need to succeed in the contemporary UAE workplace, with specific reference to email.…”

Generational Differences and COVID-19: Positive Interactions in Virtual Workplaces

“…Lastly, to refreeze the change, policy makers will need to continue communicating with organizational members on how to engage in at home work and interactions with colleagues. They must also stress the importance of such interactions (Darics & Gatti, 2019); provide IT support to help with technical issues (Tallon, Queiroz, Coltman, & Sharma, 2019), and prepare for future crisis situations in which work might need to transition again after COVID (Cairns & Wright, 2017). Engaging in these practices should help organizational members to gain confidence in their own abilities and the abilities of agediverse colleagues to change which, in turn, will lead to improved interactions.…”