News & Media
Dysfunctional team behaviour-new conditions discovered
Insight: phobia, mania, and delusion... the shrinks have a word for it
Adrian Furnham writing in the UK Daily Telegraph Insight column, July 7 has shared some slightly tongue-in-cheek insights on the new crop of psychiatric conditions which are afflicting today's teams and organisations. My three favourites from Aidrian's(extensive) list are:
Outsourcing, virtual teams and knowledge work
Is knowledge-worker outsourcing to low-cost economies the unavoidable natural evolution of virtual teams?
Europe and the US are running scared of the outsourcing of 'knowledge work' to places like India and China. Outsourcing of manufacturing is now normal practice. Outsourcing of white-collar work, with its off-shore call-centres and operations centres, has now been happening for the last 5-10 years. A new phase of outsourcing has started - it focuses on those types of 'knowledge work' where there is minimal need for face-to-face customer interaction.
Virtual research collaboration's first international, interdisciplinary supercomputer grid established
Supercomputing Online, July 6, reports that virtual research collaboration can now move to a new level where real-world applications can be delivered on an international basis with the establishment of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUNgrid) which distributes computing power from five sites in three countries (US, UK and Norway).
Corporate Teamwork Leadership Principles
What Goldman Sachs Looks for in Leaders
Workforce.com reports on Goldman Sach's nine leadership principles which is the product of over a year of senior time. Good leadership, the bank says, is built on teamwork and change and grounded in integrity and fairness.
Virtual team collaboration saves lives!
UK government sets up organisation to promote “meeting without moving”.
Virtual Team Implementation Issues
Virtual team effectiveness is damaged by poor understanding and weak implementation.
Small businesses more open to virtual teamwork
UK Small companies more open to virtual working practices than big ones
According to Online Recruitment, “Big businesses are left behind as smaller firms pioneer the remote office”, May 31.
A survey of attitudes to teleworking in UK business, carried out by Mitel, finds somewhat surprisingly that small businesses (72%) are much more open to remote and flexible working practices than their larger counterparts (44%).
One might think that the larger companies more advanced IT and communications infrastructures might make them more amenable to teleworking?
However perhaps mindset may be more important than technology with the bigger companies preference for ‘command and control’ and “if you can’t see it you can manage it” holding them back in new working practices compared with a more ‘self-managed team’ approach popular with small entrepreneurial companies.
Batteries not broadband for virtual teams
Mobile teamworkers need better batteries more than better broadband
We talk about ubiquitous wireless broadband as the enabler of truly mobile working.... however if you are a 'power laptop' user then its more likely you will be stopped in your mobile tracks by your battery running out than by lack of access to broadband.
Technology in the workplace: a recipe for legal trouble
Ever increasing dependence on virtual communication technologies in organisations and teams is creating unexpected legal concerns for both employers and employees.
When two robots arrive at a doorway, who should go first?
Robots are terribly polite these days. When two vehicles developed by a Canadian robotics firm arrive at a narrow door at the same time, they have a friendly way to decide who should pass through first……
