Applying genre analysis to EMS design: the example of a small accounting firm

The concept of genre has already been used to analyse organizational communication. It has also been recently used to examine persistent conversations and patterns of thinking. It may there be an opportunity to apply the genre perspective to Electronic Meeting Systems (EMS) as well. This paper describes how we analysed meetings using the concept of communication genre and draws several consequences for EMS design. Some of the identified design issues are: (1) the EMS could reflect the organizational orientation towards producing value; (2) EMS may consider the situated nature of work; (3) EMS could support long-term usage; (4) genres could, be incorporated in genre-based EMS to identify, decision-making patterns; and (5) genres shape communication artefacts, accommodating different views and reflecting the genre system that originates them. The paper describes an EMS, based on genres, that we developed to address these design issues. The EMS was developed and used in the context of a small accounting firm. Preliminary results show that the approach contributes to a better fit to organisational needs than traditional EMS.