{"id":124,"date":"2011-08-02T13:10:49","date_gmt":"2011-08-02T13:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/?p=124"},"modified":"2011-08-02T13:26:25","modified_gmt":"2011-08-02T13:26:25","slug":"telecommuters-and-the-virtual-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/2011\/08\/02\/telecommuters-and-the-virtual-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Telecommuters and The Virtual Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article came through on my twitter feed yesterday from Technology Review: The Rise of the Virtual Office<\/a>. \u00a0Since this is one of my main areas of research, I have tons of thoughts of this.<\/p>\n

First, I think it’s incorrect to talk of the “rise” of the virtual office. \u00a0It’s been rising for quite a while. \u00a0It has well risen. \u00a0If we were making bread, it’s past time to put this thing in the oven and bake it. \u00a0I think the best way of thinking of how pervasive the “virtual” is in our work is that there is no such comparison as a virtual to a face-to-face team. \u00a0ALL TEAMS ARE VIRTUAL–even those who interact regularly face-to-face. \u00a0You can count on team members to also communicate through email, text, and POT (plain old telephone). \u00a0Thus, \u00a0all teams are virtual teams now–just on a continuum from low (same location, but still use email) to high virtuality (international).<\/p>\n

Second, although the article starts by discussing that virtual organizations remain “organizations” with strict hierarchies (a highly debatable statement) and the human need for social interaction at work (I agree completely), it then spends the rest of the time discussing \u00a0the importance of technology in virtual offices. \u00a0I know that it is my bias as a psychologist who studies people communicating over technology (and the journal is Technology Review<\/a>–not People Using Technology Review). \u00a0But without people, technology is nothing. \u00a0And yes, security is important, but the virtual office without the virtual workers is not an office at all.<\/p>\n

In any case, maybe it is time for a People Using Technology Review journal. \u00a0(Although some marketing guru could come up with a better name than that) \u00a0Managers and other practitioners as well as researchers who follow the current trends in technology should also know about the current trends in research–like Wanda Orlikowski’s<\/a> new sociomaterial theoretical approach<\/a> to understanding how technology affects the structure of work and the health and productivity of its employees. \u00a0Actually, her approach is so comprehensive, she is arguing that we have neglected the physical (as well as technological) components of \u00a0work in *all* of our research, and our organizational theories have significant problems because of it. \u00a0Indeed, statements like that make me want to arrange a conference call between her and Dan Stokols<\/a> and say, “You two need to talk<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

So here is where I backtrack. \u00a0I hate criticizing other people’s work. \u00a0Even when I write a \u00a0review for a paper that is absolutely awful, I always include something supportive and positive (“Nice font!”) to them and then say something a bit more caustic to the editor (“UGH!!!”). \u00a0And yesterday’s article is the start of a month long discussion of technology at work. \u00a0So you have to start somewhere! \u00a0I also went back to Technology Review to see if I misread something about the original article. \u00a0Today’s article is on securing the virtual office, so perhaps they were using yesterday’s article to set up the importance for today’s article.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, it seems like a good idea to walk across campus to Dr. Orlikowski’s office and see what she has to say about the virtual office. Technology is exciting. \u00a0Technology can do some really cool things. \u00a0But without serving or being used by people, it doesn’t exist (cf Google +). Ok, maybe that’s too broad of a \u00a0statement, but I hope it makes you think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article came through on my twitter feed yesterday from Technology Review: The Rise of the Virtual Office. \u00a0Since this is one of my main areas of research, I have tons of thoughts of this. First, I think it’s incorrect to talk of the “rise” of the virtual office. \u00a0It’s been rising for quite a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[12,10,11],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-research","tag-technology","tag-virtual-work"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p67nDP-20","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61,"url":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/2003\/07\/01\/sense-of-virtual-community-in-listservs-and-newsgroups\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":0},"title":"Sense of Virtual Community in Listservs and Newsgroups","author":"clas-web","date":"July 1, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr. Anita Blanchard UNC Charlotte Department of Psychology July 1, 2003 Introduction The term \u201cvirtual community\u201d can be used to describe any group of people who interact through computer communication (e.g., email, Usenet newsgroups).\u00a0 However, are they truly \u201ccommunities\u201d in the traditional meaning?\u00a0 One way to determine if virtual communities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research Reports"","block_context":{"text":"Research Reports","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/category\/research-reports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65,"url":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/2003\/10\/07\/blogs-a-new-form-of-virtual-community\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":1},"title":"Blogs: A new form of Virtual Community?","author":"clas-web","date":"October 7, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Preliminary Analysis Anita Blanchard, Ph.D. October 7, 2003 In July 2003, readers of the Julie\/Julia Project participated in an on-line survey. The purpose of this study was to explore whether blogs, and in particular, The Julie\/Julia Project, are a new form of virtual community. Participants were asked to respond to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research Reports"","block_context":{"text":"Research Reports","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/category\/research-reports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":224,"url":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/2013\/03\/13\/telecommuting-creativity-and-connection\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":2},"title":"Telecommuting, Creativity, and Connection","author":"Anita Blanchard","date":"March 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I am coming to the Yahoo Telecommuting brouhaha a little later than most, but I think it's given me time to process others' reactions as well as better formulate my own. The gist of the story is that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has decided to eliminate her employees' ability to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138,"url":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/2011\/08\/18\/whats-your-influence\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":3},"title":"What’s Your Influence?","author":"Anita Blanchard","date":"August 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, I talked about socialmaterialism and the new (emerging) social media. \u00a0I'm interested today in how companies are going to start exploiting that data. First, though, what do YOU think of when you think of social media? \u00a0A couple of years ago, I gave a talk to the Carolina\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":434,"url":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/2020\/10\/23\/podcasts-during-zoom\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":4},"title":"Podcasts During Zoom","author":"Anita Blanchard","date":"October 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My mentor, Dr. Lynne Markus, wrote a very important article (Culnan & Markus, 1987 and while that is not the direct link to it b\/c it's a handbook article, the article I do link to is a follow-up that is similar). ANYHOOOOO, the gist of Culnan & Markus is stop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/VICE-Lab-2020.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/VICE-Lab-2020.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/VICE-Lab-2020.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/VICE-Lab-2020.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/VICE-Lab-2020.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":439,"url":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/2021\/05\/07\/tiktok-the-new-unifying-tv\/","url_meta":{"origin":124,"position":5},"title":"TikTok: The new unifying TV","author":"Anita Blanchard","date":"May 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night, I saw my lab for the first time in person. We were all (but one) fully vaccinated and we stayed outside. I was surprised at the grief I felt when they left. We've had a really productive lab this year, even though we have only seen each other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/FB_IMG_1620354476517.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/FB_IMG_1620354476517.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/FB_IMG_1620354476517.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/FB_IMG_1620354476517.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/FB_IMG_1620354476517.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/anitablanchard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}