Project Description

This project blog has been christened [Insert Title Here] for good reason (as opposed to simply because it's a cheeky title)--although the description of my final USI project at the Telematica Instiuut is quite clear, it's also awfully general.

The current project has two goals. A brief description of these goals and their underlying motivation follows.

In short, the first goal of the project is to validate the dual concepts of in sync and in touch as they pertain to a highly mobile--or, in the extreme case, nomadic (i.e., those without any "home" office base)--workforce.

These two concepts (in sync and in touch) were developed by researchers at the nonprofit Telematica Instituut as part of a large initiative, the Future Workspaces project. Very broadly, this project concerns the changes that both organizations and the individuals employed by them must undergo in order to adapt to not only current—but also anticipate future—technological and environmental demands.

Being in sync, when applied to the individual, means having an overview of what’s going on within the context of either the team one is working with; the current project; or, task at hand. By keeping tabs on new developments that transpire within the context of these settings, one is able to nurture an understanding of the so-called “bigger picture”. In other words, that individual is able to develop a schema of what the project or team has accomplished already; where it is right now with respect to attaining its ultimate goals; and, where it’s going in the future—and, perhaps even more importantly, where he or she as an individual fits into this framework, at any given moment.

Being in touch, on the other hand, has to do with a feeling of connectedness that exists between colleagues. It is fostered by both formal (e.g., meetings and working together on shared projects) and informal (e.g., chit chat at the water cooler, if you’re an American—or, at the koffie corner, if you’re working for a Dutch company) exchanges. Both establishing a connection and maintaining it can positively affect the collaborative process. On the other hand, it has been shown that when individuals lack a connection (both with regard to physical proximity and social interaction) with their colleagues, it can lead to professional isolation (e.g., Cooper & Kurland, 2002; Golden, 2006).

Although they are psychological constructs, it can be argued that being in sync and in touch are necessary components to any discussion on how people will work effectively in the future. If being in sync and in touch are, in fact, two requirements for job satisfaction, then being able to identify and develop tools to hone these abilities in individual workers is a fruitful enterprise. Moreover, if the adage, “a happy worker is a productive worker” holds, then a clear understanding of these concepts, and the development of tools to enhance them, benefits organizations, as well.

For the highly mobile or nomadic worker who either spends much time away from colleagues (or spends the majority of his or her time working in distributed ad hoc or temporary teams), the ability to stay both in sync and in touch is jeopardized—particularly because research has shown that face-to-face contact is a critical factor in nurturing connectedness and opening the channels required for successful knowledge exchange (e.g., Golden, Veiga, & Dino, 2008). So, the second goal of my project is to clearly focus on one (or two) obstacle(s) that challenge the nomadic worker’s ability to stay in sync and/or in touch, and develop an effective solution to address that problem.

In the next installment, I will cover some of the strategies and methods that I intend to use in order to uncover these obstacles.