Synchronous and Asynchronous Collaboration Technology Use in Teamwork

As project teams have become dispersed and communication technology has evolved, organizations have increasingly moved towards usage of synchronous communication technologies such as video/web/audio conferencing and instant messaging to facilitate collaboration among team members although usage of asynchronous communication technologies such as electronic mail, wikis, blogs, social networks, and fax continue to play an important role in the exchange of information within teams. Little however is known about the influence of a team member’s task characteristics and extent of usage of such contemporary collaboration technologies on the member’s task outcomes. To explore this gap in literature, this paper draws upon media richness theory to understand the impacts of a project team member’s task characteristics and extent of usage of contemporary collaboration technologies on the member’s task outcomes. This paper also has practical implications that guide the adoption and use of collaboration technologies in organizations.