Communication Training

Communication Training Dr. Lam

Agenda • Overview of the purpose of this training • Overview of media synchronicity theory • Applying the theory to your teamwork • Case studies and practice

Why are we doing this? • Improve your communication with teammates • Set expectations with each other • Improve team functioning • Bond with your team

This all seems too obvious… • It may seem obvious to select a medium that matches your synchronicity needs, but… • 98% of all student communication was through email (Lam, 2013)

What is media synchronicity theory? • Media Synchronicity Theory (MST) (Dennis, et al., 2008) synchronicity as a predictor of communication performance • Synchronicity is defined as a “state in which individuals are working together at the same time with a common focus.” • MST focuses on the capability of media to support synchronicity.

Five important media capabilities • Transmission velocity- How fast will the message get to the receiver? • Parallelism- How many transmissions can be sent simultaneously? • Symbol sets- what are the different ways of encoding a message? • Rehearsability – Can you edit or fine tune a message before sending it? • Reprocessability- Can you retrieve a message again in order to process the information further?

Let’s practice • How synchronous are the following? • Phone call? • Face-to-face meeting? • Text message? • Chat or IM? • Email? • Discussion board post?

According to MST • There is no “best” medium • Texting isn’t better than IM or email, for example • Instead there is a “best fit” for certain situations • This is especially important when you think about communicating with your team members • Remember, almost ALL students default to email. While email is a great “fit” for some instances, it’s not for others

How to determine “fit” • Consider your feedback needs. • Do you need immediate feedback? • Can you wait to have a discussion? • Consider the communication context. • Is it new information that requires considerable discussion? • Is it familiar information that requires less discussion? • Consider social circumstances. • Have you agreed upon using certain mediums for certain tasks? • What is appropriate? (Is it 4am and a text would wake up your teammate?)

Step 1: Considering your feedback needs • If you need Immediate Feedback, consider a synchronous medium • Text message • IM/Chat • Phone call • Video conference • Face-to-face meeting • Other? • If you don’t need immediate feedback, consider a less synchronous medium • Email message • Social media message • Discussion board posting • Other?

Step 2: Considering the Context What are the characteristics of the communication process? • Is it new and complicated? • Use a medium that allows you to have a detailed discussion (e.g., face-to-face, video conference, IM) • Is it familiar information? • Use a medium that doesn’t require as much set up time (e.g., texting) • Do you need to record the content for a later date? • Use a medium that allows for recording (e.g., avoid phone or video conference) • Mixed situation? • Consider multiple mediums. For example, send a text and then a follow-up email.

Step 3: considering other social factors • Have you agreed on a particular medium? • If you’ve agreed to use gchatfor group discussions, then use it. However, you may have to use an additional medium that can notify everyone to join gchat (like a text). • What are the social norms? • E.g., Is it appropriate to initiate a video chat at 2 AM?

Let’s look at some examples • Consider synchronicity needs, communication process, and other social factors. • Scenario: It’s 6pm on Thursday afternoon. You won’t see your group again until the next Monday. You want to make sure John is almost done with the outline that is due on Monday. Answer the following: • Do you need (or want) immediate feedback? • Is the information complicated or simple? Should it be saved or recorded? • Do you know what medium John prefers or will most likely use? Based on those answers, what medium did you choose?

More examples • Consider synchronicity needs, communication process, and other social factors. • Scenario: It’s 9pm on Sunday afternoon. You won’t see your group until Monday. You want to contact John so that you can get the outline and edit it before class Monday. Answer the following: • Do you need (or want) immediate feedback? • Is the information complicated or simple? Should it be saved or recorded? • Do you know what medium John prefers or will most likely use? Based on those answers, what medium did you choose?

Even more examples • Consider synchronicity needs, communication process, and other social factors. • Scenario: It’s 1 hour after class just ended. You have met with your group and divided all the work up until you meet again in two days. You suddenly realized that no one has volunteered to complete the audience analysis. Answer the following: • Do you need (or want) immediate feedback? • Is the information complicated or simple? Should it be saved or recorded? • Do you know what medium John prefers or will most likely use? Based on those answers, what medium did you choose?

Final example • Consider synchronicity needs, communication process, and other social factors. • Scenario: Your final project is due Monday. It’s Sunday afternoon and you need a group decision on the final report. Each team member has a different section and you are in charge of putting all of the sections into one single document. Answer the following: • Do you need (or want) immediate feedback? • Is the information complicated or simple? Should it be saved or recorded? • Do you know what medium John prefers or will most likely use? Based on those answers, what medium did you choose?

Conclusion • Choosing the right medium is a matter understanding the situation • Don’t forget to consider synchronicity, process,and social factors • Don’t forget your communication contract

Communication Training