Technology is here to stay, but what about effective teams?

As a faculty member in a graduate school that subscribes to semi-virtual teams to accomplish its program, I have begun to notice how the evolution of technology is influencing teamwork and task performance.

Students in our graduate program come from across Canada, with a sprinkle from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Professions range from the health and educational sectors, government, social and community services, and public and private organizations. Age range is between 24 and 55 years. Students move through their program as a cohort, meeting once a month for three days, with the bulk of their teamwork and group support done interdependently through e-mail, Skype, teleconferencing, computer conferencing, electronic voting, doodle polls (polling members’ ideas, opinions, weightings, and judgments), text messaging, and online databases that provide information and maintain communication.

Sounds great- but is it? Despite all this emphasis on collaborating teamwork and communication technology aimed at facilitating and supporting a team in action, it is not uncommon that, by the time the cohort reaches their studies in their second year, trust is low, individual and group accountability fragile, and commitment to working as a team, while seen as a necessary feature, is not welcomed. Why is this so? There is no question that this innovative graduate program would not have been possible without the technology that supports it. Many of the graduates experience themselves in a digital village where they are able to access and transmit data quickly without delays imposed by geographical distance. The use of technology is not a problem, for many have not lived in a world without the Internet.

Plugged in, but tuned out

Technology — cell phones, laptops, tablets, online Moodle, online courses, distance learning, video-conference learning, texting, etc.— used widely with our students today colors much of their social interaction.

Our current culture of efficiency over effectiveness — online course evaluations, search engines used for primary sources, the "just Google" lifestyle mentality, multi-tasking (music + TV + cell) while working on assignments with language used by students incongruent with university-level standards is driving academic requirements to an all-time low.

We have 24-hour coffee shops where wireless Internet turns night into day, background noise at bars that discourages interaction, and an increase in people eating out, but with little to no conversation during this activity. We see the rise in boredom in our schools with a decrease of its opposite—engagement and interest — with kids nodding off, or texting their friends, or disappearing into their own thoughts. Age differences that used to be so complementary in the universities, resulting in rich exchange of knowledge and experience, is now not the case. Older students are seen as "odd" by younger students and academic standards have been lowered.

The routine in class these days starts with "please turn off your cells". This leads students to text messaging. They have become very adept at texting without looking at their cell phone keyboard. Now the announcement goes further: "please turn off your cells and no text messaging". This does not work either. The vibrating gadget connected with cell phones allows anyone to know someone has called. A light or flashing light informs the receiver that an e-mail has just come in. Students desperately resort to creative ways of trying to instantly access these messages. Despite feedback, they get caught up in a world of their own, where their self-awareness is dulled and their self-regulation is seemingly non-existent.

This culture of the now — where we need it now, quickly, this instant produces students who send e- mails and expect an answer instantaneously, who display a "why bother with Facebook" attitude when replies on Twitter are so much more immediate, and who do not bother with CDs and DVDs anymore, because a download of iTunes means "I don't have to get off my couch", and so on. As we lose all ability to wait, patience isn't so much a virtue as an annoyance, epitomized by the fact some even text while driving.

Why should we care?

The implications of these trends on sustaining and building effective workgroups are enormous. The basis and foundation for good group work seems to have weakened. Building relationships and mutual trust among group members has become increasingly difficult with dialogue harder to maintain and sharing of relevant task concerns more difficult to address. There seems to be little to no interest in engaging in interpersonal understanding and regulating the group's emotions. I have seen teams spend more time interacting with their screens than with each other. They miss cues, tone of voice, rolling of eyes, fidgeting, and other non-verbal behaviours that occur. They also miss the impact of their own actions on their teammates. With time, accountability and willingness to take on responsibility seems to be harder to sustain, loyalty suffers, and workgroups, when assigned a task, find it exhausting and difficult to engage in meaningful and interdependent ways where resources and skills are recognized and valued.

With inadequate conditions prevailing and the development of effective task processes not in evidence, it is understandable why workgroups struggle and become dysfunctional, why the quality of the task begins to suffer, and why members experience relief when their work and the group is finally over.

Is there a solution?

What we do know is that the use of technology brings us into a paperless world that is both archival and efficient, permitting meetings without travel. File systems make it possible to re-display information from previous meetings, to revisit old arguments, to show history of a series of arguments, and to resume discussions. My graduate students report that when the text includes graphics and is clear, concise, and consistent in spelling and grammar, and affirming in tone, it has a positive impact, particularly when there is a request, critiquing a piece of someone's else's work or giving a rationale on an action to be taken. They also state that it is experienced negatively when messages are curt and boorish and fail to get their point across to accomplish goals or advances in strategies.

This 3 part series of blog posts will discuss common concerns, pitfalls, and difficulties experienced in teams in the digital age. I will also outline action steps and strategies that can be used to help avoid these pitfalls when working in groups in the digital age.

While technology is here to stay, it is still too early to determine and understand its long-term impact on collaborative work, quality decision-making, and sustained commitment to the task at hand. The importance of understanding this influence cannot be underscored sufficiently. In so doing, we will be better able to build interventions to facilitate the important work that could, should, and will be done by teams in the digital age.

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