Technology and Global Virtual Teams

This chapter focuses on the affordances of technologies for engineering communication. It helps those who work with global virtual teams to select media that provide the affordances needed for each task even as new media are developed. While the affordances needed to support virtual team work are not likely to change quickly, the software that exists today possibly would not be around tomorrow. The affordances of technology include both the capabilities of technology and the perception of technology. The differences in perception of technology use between members of high- and low-context cultures are particularly apparent. While speed of transmission is usually considered an advantage of technology, intercultural team members are likely to differ with regard to their perception of the speed of communication. A more effective way to make technology decisions would be to base the decisions on task, context (including culture), and technology.