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Opportunities for providing a variety of channels
that allow feedback to be given and
received in the most accessible, convenient
and appropriate form have been considerably
enhanced by the development and adoption
of new communication technologies. These
are discussed in the following section.
Communication technology and
creative thinking
For many years it was assumed that using
computers as a communication medium
would foster impersonal, even aggressive,
task-oriented behaviours of a kind that would
discourage creative thinking. However, early
research was frequently conducted using zerohistory,
inexperienced participants engaged in
short, inauthentic tasks under laboratory conditions.
Subsequent studies reveal that computer-mediated
communication produces
both social and task effects that contradict
early findings completely (Baym, 2002; Lea
and Spears, 1991; Walther, 1997; Lea et al.,
2001; Scott, 1999), and demonstrate that
communication technology can be highly
supportive of – and indeed in several ways
enhance – group communication and collaboration.
For example, electronic brainstorming has
been repeatedly demonstrated to outperform
the face-to-face kind in large groups,
owing to the absence of production blocking
and also to reduced social loafing. Larger
electronic brainstorming groups have further
been found to generate more high-quality
ideas than their non-electronic counterparts
(Gallupe et al., 1992; Dennis, 1994;
Briggs, 1995; Valacich et al., 1994). Other
specialist group-oriented computer-mediated
tools that enhance creative thinking include
software for mind-mapping and threedimensional
mental modelling, which allows
users to share and reflect upon visual representations
of their thinking patterns and
approaches. An additional advantage is that
these applications can instantaneously integrate
and display input from a variety of
sources, further transcending limitations of
paper-based – and even whiteboard-based –
methods.
Of course, one of the most obvious advantages
afforded by communication technology
is its potential to allow collaboration between
teams comprising widely dispersed members,
unlimited by organizational, geographic
or even time constraints. These networks
also provide opportunities for individuals to
participate in multiple teams and projects,
increasing the likelihood of creative crossfertilization
of ideas.
Recent studies involving computer-mediated
decision-making groups whose sole
contact is online, however, suggest that if
group salience is high (in other words, if the
members of the group regard their group
identity as of primary significance to them),
group members tend to demonstrate greater
normative behaviour and are more likely to
conform than when members’ individual
identities are salient (Lea et al., 2001). This
would have implications for leaders of virtual
groups, who may at times want to hold
off tendencies toward consensus in the interest
of provoking a wide range of contrasting
perspectives. In such cases, deliberately
highlighting members’ consciousness of their
individuality – while naturally still encouraging
supportive, social and co-operative
behaviours – would be an important strategy.
It is to be remembered, however, that
these findings apply only to groups whose
sole contact is online, and short term.
As Walther (1997) points out, there comes
a time in all extended-term groups
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors