Chapter+29

toc = = =Computer Supported Collaborative Working=

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Social Psychology
-the study of groups -negative aspect is that the research takes place in the confines of a laboratory rather than in the context of everyday life.

Group Formation
-go through a series if predictable phases

1. **Forming**
-aniexty about process -dependace on leader -finding out about task, rules

2. **Storming**
-conflict between members -rebellion against leader -resistance to rules and demands

3. **Norming**
-stable, cohesive group -socail norms established -conflicts resolved

4. **Performing**
-constructive problem solving Energy directed to the task

5. **Decay**
- “doesn’t always happen” -task has been achieved -people drift off -group dissolves -These concepts are useful for considering when and how technology might help group functioning.

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**Social Norms**
Hawthorne Effect- changing social norms -taking an interest in behaviour can change that behaviour. -watching employees makes them work harder. The removal of the supervisor and replaced by an observer made employees feel freer to talk to each other and made the more cheerful, therefore they worked harder.

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**Compliance**
-when group work is assigned people cease to behave like individuals and comply with group norms. = =

**Conformity**
-When in a group you loose you individuality and make decisions mirrored by the group leader. This occurs because members do not wish to appear different, or believe their answer is wrong. -Technology such as Group Decision Support Systems help remedy undesirable aspects of group decision making

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**Group Productivity and Social Loafing**
-People tend to under-exert themselves in groups, this effect is called social loafing. -When individuals work harder in a group it is called social compensation. They do this to make up for their lazier colleagues in the group. -Production blocking- is where one person’s contribution simply gets in the way of another members, principally by causing the second member to forget what they were about to say. -It is believed that communication via computers may help avoid these issues. = =

What is a CSCW? Computer Supported Cooperative Work
-The description for modern day work. -Term has been replace by Groupware which is the software specifically designed to support group working. -CSCW results: 1. People learn to cooperate by observing and participating in communication and information exchange. 2. Co-evolution is an important factor. We learn to adapt to the configuration of a technical system and we adapt the system to suit our needs.

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**Grudin’s Eight Challenges for CSCW Developers**
1. Disparity between who does the work and who gets the benefit - Calendar system whereby individuals put their schedules in the calendar for all to see. Many feel an annoyance as others can see there free time but those who arrange meetings fin it much easier to do so. 2. Critical mass and prisoners dilemma problems - A CSCW system needs a critical mass of people to participate in order to be successful- More people = more information 3. Social, political and motivational factors - Work is not just a rational activity, but a socially constructed practice, with all the shifting, conflicting motivations and politicking that applises. -Computers do not do this; they rely on concrete information and predictable cause-effect relationships. 4. Exception handling in workgroups -Many procedures have a specified set of steps or procedures. Many times these rules must be bent in order to get work done. -Humans are good at improvising to get things done while computers are not 5. Designing for infrequently used feature -CSCW tools tend to emphasize cooperation at the expense of support for individual work -design features should enhance existing single-user applications rather than enforce a switch to CSCW mode. 6. The underestimated difficulty of evaluating groupware -Group applications are more difficult to evaluate -Users in different roles will have differing experiences. 7. The breakdown of intuitive decision-making -Single-user applications allow for intuitive decisions 8. Managing acceptance -User acceptance is an issue for many new technologies -designers suggest that the addition of single-user products fosters acceptance of new technologies. = =

**Ethnography**
-the key approach to workplace studies -Def- is the output of observational fieldwork rather than the fieldwork itself. -Participant observation- learning about activities, cultures through spending time living in the community under study -Study without preconceptions