SBenegaL

Category: Virtual Workplaces

  • Decision Making – Virtual Workplaces 2

    In the last byte, we began our discussion making in virtual workplaces. We discuss about the three components that we mentioned to be important component

    DVCS relates to the face to face interactions of teams that generally rely on computer mounted cameras and provides video feeds and voice transmissions; combined with high-speed data connections the local teams can connect with their counter-parts across geographies. These systems could also take advantage of outside experts who could be added to the group.

    Through the use of GDSS, users could turn off their individual identities and interact with anonymity and can poll participants and assemble statistical information relevant to the decision being made – thus enabling collaboration in virtual teams.

    Internet and intranets could be rick communication and decision-making resource that would allow virtual teams to archive text, visuals, audio, and data files for use in decision making. The progress of the virtual teams could be easily updated and shared with other team members.

    These 3 components provide virtual teams a rich communications environment for decision making, however it is difficult to duplicate the face-to-face environment and its effectiveness is driven by the virtual team member’s ability to use the tools that are available.

  • Decision Making – Virtual Workplaces

    In the last byte, we looked at the role Group Decision Support Systems play. In today’s byte, we begin our discussion on the shift decision making process has to take in case of Virtual Workplaces.

    Virtual workplace refers to the modern day work environment where managers face scenarios of flexibility in workplace independent or unconstrained by geography, time and organizational boundaries. Virtual teams today could be seen as a work arrangement where the co-workers are disbursed geographically and would require a combination of telecommunication and information technology to accomplish the task at hand. These teams rarely have face-to-face meetings and the membership involved changes according to the project requirements at hand.

    The decisions made in these virtual teams would need the following three components for communication and decision making:

    1. Desktop Videoconferencing Systems (DVCS)
    2. Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS)
    3. Internet/intranet systems
    While we have already discussed the GDSS in the earlier section, we shall discuss about this in the context of these virtual teams. Over the next byte, we shall attempt understanding these three components.