Virtual

Collaboration
Bhushan Matad
FWS -2020

Virtual
Collaboratio
n
Why and
What

Virtual collaborationis the method of collaboration

betweenvirtual teammembers that is carried out via
technology-mediated communication. Distributed
teams use virtual collaboration to simulate the
information transfer present in face-to-face meetings,
communicating virtually through verbal, visual,
written, and digital means.
Virtual Collaboration is commonly used by globally
distributed business and scientific teams. Ideally,
virtual collaboration is most effective when it can
simulate face-to-face interaction between team
members through the transfer of contextual
information, but technological limits in sharing certain
types of information prevent virtual collaboration from
being as effective as face-to-face interaction. ( Cisco
TelePresence , Halo etc..)

Virtual
Collaboratio
n
Characterist
ics

Sharing of information:Collaboration, by definition, is a process of

assembling knowledge from different parties towards a common
goal. Virtual collaboration is meant to enable the sharing of
knowledge between parties who cannot exchange information due to
physical separation.
Dispersed Collaborators:Collaborators within virtual collaboration
are physically separated from each other and can only interact
virtually. Being able to physically interact with a team member
affords many benefits that virtual collaboration cannot provide, and
eliminates any need for virtual meetings (sharing of context,
interpersonal relationships, etc.).[3]Collaborators can meet
physically, but interaction outside of the virtual platform may change
the dynamics of the collaboration and classify it as non-virtual.
Technology-mediated:Because virtual collaborators cannot
interact physically they use technology to share information over
several mediums. Most virtual collaboration platforms are carried out
via the internet, for example email, video conferencing, and virtual
workspaces. Audio conferencing can also be a means of virtual
collaboration, as information is shared over a telephone or other
audio device.[4]

 Synchronous:Synchronous collaboration occurs when team members are

able to share information and ideas instantaneously. Examples of synchronous
virtual collaboration include instant messaging, chat rooms, and video or audio
conferencing.[4]

Virtual
Collaboratio
n
Types

Asynchronous:Asynchronous collaboration occurs when team members

communicate without the ability to instantly respond to messages or ideas.
Examples of asynchronous virtual collaboration include e-mail, discussion
boards, application-specific groupware, or shared databases. [4]
Audio-conferencing:Audio conferencing allows collaborators to
communicate verbally in real-time without the use of continuously updated,
shared imagery. Examples of audio conferencing include phone calls,
conference calls, or conference calls where people are also sharing views of
images or documents.[4]
Video-Conferencing:Video-conferencing is communicating with the use of
real-time sharing of verbal and visual information. Video-conferencing includes
continuously updated visuals of collaborators, diagrams, physical objects, or
computer screens. Examples of video-conferencing are group videoconferencing in dedicated rooms and desktop video-conferencing. [4]
Computer-mediated communication:Computer-mediated communication
is defined as text, images, and other data received via computer without
effective real-time voice or video images from collaborators. Examples of
computer-mediated communication include E-mail, chat rooms, discussion
boards, text messaging, instant messaging, shared databases, wikis, and
application specific groupware.[4]

 Applications
Business: Virtual collaboration is widely used in corporate businesses
for its efficiency, innovation, and ability to gain or keep competitive
advantages in the market. Businesses commonly use virtual
collaboration technology to facilitate problem solving between teams
within the company, and also to collaborate with other companies.

Virtual
Collaboratio
n
Applications

Education: Virtual collaboration is often used to connect experts in a

scientific field to others that wish collaborate for researching or
educating purposes. Many colleges and learning institutions use
virtual systems to host information where both students and experts
can share information on a certain subject. Both wikis and virtual
conferencing have shown to be effective in sharing expert information
to educate students or other individuals interested in the subject. [13]
Experts can also virtually collaborate with other experts, across
subjects, to discover new things that were not apparent when the
collaborators were isolated.
Wikis:Wikisare a form of virtual collaboration because they enable
people to contribute to an online document that can be seen and
edited by other users via the internet. Wikis are considered aWeb 2.0
technology, and fall into virtual collaboration due to the collaborative
process that documents go through when put into a wiki. [15]

 Advantages

Virtual
Collaboratio
n
Advantages

Pooling of expertise:Virtual collaboration provides more

opportunities for experts to join project groups where their knowledge
can be best used, and be complemented with other experts whose
knowledge contributes to a common goal. Virtual collaboration allows
teams to be formed based on subject and expertise, without the
restriction of physical proximity of collaborators. The pool of expertise
is much greater abroad than in most local team settings, meaning
that virtual collaboration gives teams an opportunity to add a quality
expert that fits the needs of the team. This can be proved by the fact
that dispersed teams with recruited experts tend to have higher net
earnings than local teams with a local expert. [5]
Cost Effective:Compared to face-to-face meetings of distributed
group members, virtual collaboration is much less costly. The time and
costs associated with transportation to physically bring together team
members from different geographic locations can be substantially
higher than the cost of a virtual collaborative application. [4]Software
used to connect distributed teams can be found for free on the
internet, with more feature-loaded and specialized applications having
a one-time cost or a paid subscription.

Disadvantages

Virtual
Collaboratio
n
Disadvanta
ges

Technological limits:Because technology cannot convey important information, such as

context and expressions of emotion, teams are limited in their grounding of knowledge and
interpersonal relations. Many of the disadvantages that come with virtual collaboration are the
same as those found in virtual groups, due to the fact that virtual groups cannot physically
interact with each other. Technology that does not effectively support either collaborators
abilities or the process of the collaboration will result in a signal loss, or a great reduction in
the power of virtual collaboration[6]
Reliance on Technology:Any problems that arise with the technology can obstruct a
collaborative effort due to virtual collaborations complete reliance on technology for
communication. Teams that have do not understand how to use the virtual collaboration
technology cannot perform their tasks as efficiently and have higher frustration levels.
Malfunctions in the communication technology can also hinder task progress. [7]Also,
incompatible or differing technology used between team members may make it more difficult
for task to be accomplished.[8]
Asynchronous and lagged communication:Collaborators that are interdependent on each
others information can experience problems due to the lack of synchronization due to
technology. Asynchronous communication does not give team members constant updates in
real time, which can lead to coordination and sequencing problems for a task. [9]In video and
teleconferencing, time lags due to technology-mediated communication can cause confusion
between collaborators.[10]Such coordination problems can frustrate collaborators and result in
unnecessary work.
Means of exclusion:The method of information transfer in virtual collaboration can allow for
team members to choose who does and does not receive information. For example, an email
can be sent from one virtual collaborator to others that they choose, and telephone calls can
happen between certain collaborators and not others. This means of exclusion, whether
intentional or accidental, can cause confusion and conflict within a group, hindering
collaborative processes.[9]

 1. Basecamp
E-mails great for some conversations, but for managing a project with a virtual team, its hard to beat a dedicated project
management app, likeBasecamp. For one, it keeps your inbox free of clutter, hosting focused discussions on a dedicated
project webpage that your whole team can see. You can track your teams progress towards a goal and manage to-do lists to
help your team get there on time. You can share calendars, files and collaborate on text documents too.
2. Google Drive
Google Driveis the new home of Google Docs, which is Googles answer to Microsoft Office. The real benefit for virtual teams is
the ability to collaborate on documents in real time. You can leave comments on your teams work or chat while you work
together.
3. Skitch

Virtual
Collaboration
Tools

When you collaborate in a virtual team, its sometimes easier to show rather than tell.Skitchis the solution in this scenario. It
lets you quickly take a screen grab of what you can see on your desktop or in your web browser and annotate it with shapes,
arrows, quick sketches and text.
4. Join.me
Another app for show-dont-tell scenarios,join.melets you share your screen with up to 10 other users, let them control your
computer, chat and swap files. Its sort of magical how quick and easy it is to do this and its great for showing work in
progress or for helping out team members with technical difficulties that are hard to explain over the phone or over e-mail.
5. Skype/ Google Hang-out/Go
For day-to-day communication with your team,Skypeis an essential app to have in your dock or taskbar. Not only does it allow
you to call and video call your team members for free, its a really easy way to instant message one another and swap files
directly. We use it in our team for quick conversations and to let each other know when were working and where were
working, which just helps us feel like were together, even if were miles apart!
6. Dropbox
WithDropboxsoftware installed on your computer, and on the computers of your team members, files are automatically
updated, so everyone has the latest version, and theyre backed up too, so you wont have to worry about losing your stuff.
7. iDoneThis
It can be easy to feel, in between hearing from your team members, that no work is being done. This is a crisis of faith that
needs to be overcome, but it does take some time and, crucially, trust. In the meantime, theresiDoneThis a simple web
app thats more about celebrating your teams achievements than it is about spying on whats been done. It sends an evening
email reminder that everyone on your team writes a quick reply to saying what they did that day just one line per task. The
next day, everyone gets a digest with what everyone else has been working on.

 Similar to Sense Making assignment

Formed into multiple teams

Virtual
Collaboration
Assignment

Each team will be given a chapter

Need to identify a leader for the team
Identify the keywords ( Min 1 keyword per page)
Allocate Keywords among the team
Search the videos
Cross verify the videos as per the guidelines
If the video is rated average search again and
finalize.
Complete the assignment within deadline
Whole team will be assessed for the work