Spontaneous and Informal Communication in Virtual Teams

Jason writes about needing a formal way for virtual teams to share informal conversation:

"One of the sticking points of successful virtual teamwork is the importance of informal communication. Look at any study or assessment of a globally distributed team and you will see informal communication on any top 10, top 7, top 5, or even top 3 list as an indicator of a cohesive, high-functioning team - and a harbinger of success.

And yet, many virtual teams - especially at the management and executive level - resist investing time and energy into developing informal communication among team members. Perhaps it is because the idea of informal communication is so elusive, and it can seem counter-intuitive to encourage people to communicate on non-work related or ‘off-topic’ subjects during work time.

It is a misconception that all, or even most, informal communication is ‘did you see the game last night?’ or ‘have you seen that new movie?’ type of talk. Much of what people communicate about spontaneously is about the minute by minute project decisions and complications that are the crux of most information work."

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