| Abstract: |
This paper is a proposal for dissertation research. The proposal was accepted
Sept. 24, 2002. The research is focused on the question of how best to influence
the accurate attribution of the meaning of silence for team members who are not
co-located. The accurate attribution of silence can have a profound impact on
the expenditure of effort. If we make more accurate attributions then we are
more likely to make appropriate expenditures of effort, thereby affecting the
performance of the group. The proposal calls for the creation of groupware that
includes indications for three contextual elements - Physical Access,
Information Access and Channel Richness. The groups will be taken through a task
of sufficient complexity as to require cooperation and instances of silence for
one member of each group will be introduced. The members will be surveyed post
activity to determine their attribution of the periods of silence that occurred.
It is expected that the groups that are given the cues will make more accurate
attributions.
|