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On Sunday, November 4th, Karen Sobel
Lojeski presented a brief snapshot of Virtual Distance. Virtual
Distance is the perceived distance brought on by too much interaction
with technology such as email, instant messaging, and other e-based
communications. Karen has developed a measure that includes three
elements that add up to Virtual Distance.
The first is Physical
Distance. This is defined as the real or fixed distance-related
factors and they are:
a)Geographic Distance - geographic
separation, b)Temporal Distance - time-zone and/or schedule
differences, and c)Organizational Distance - the extent to which the
organizational affiliation is different, e.g. I work for company a and
you work for company b therefore we are organizationally distant.
2) Operational Distance - the
things that get in the way of effective collaboration on a day-to-day
basis. They include
a) Communication Distance - the
extent to which one uses a mix of modes like face-to-face communication
versus other kinds of communications as well as the extent to which one
can garner meaning from a conversation based on the right level of
context, both physical as well as mental context.
b) Multitasking - the extent to
which we are busy with other projects or deliverables in the same
timeframes,
c) Readiness Distance - the extent
to which technical environments go down - like QWAQ not being available
or video-conferencing, internet connections etc. and
d) Distribution Asymmetry - the
extent to which people are unequally distributed which leads to
dysfunction in the form of isolation or "cocooning" in a Headquarter
location.
3) Affinity Distance - the extent
to which we lack relationships with others that are deep in nature -
for example - one has an "affinity" for someone else. Affinity
trumps all other issues. Therefore, if there is low Affinity
Distance, the other two factors might still be in play but their
effects will be far less destructive. Affinity Distance is
comprised of
a) Cultural Distance - the extent
to which people's values and/or communication styles are not aligned,
b) Social Distance - the extent to
which people feel there are gaps in the relationship caused by
differences in formal or informal social status,
c) Relationship Distance - the
extent to which people don't know one another from prior work or don't
know any of the same people and
d) Interdependence Distance - the
extent to which people do not feel as though their futures are
connected or their success is dependent on others.
Virtual Distance has a direct
effect on Trust, Goal and Role Clarity, Organizational Citizenship
Behavior as well as Success (measured by on-time, on-budget delivery
and customer satisfaction) and Innovation (measured by innovative
behavior). Trust, Clarity, and Organizational Citizenship
Behavior also have direct effects on Success and Innovation.
Virtual Distance can be measured quantitatively using the Virtual
Distance Index or can also be qualitatively estimated. Virtual
Distance can also be predicted based on "what-if" scenarios. The
statistical relationships are such that as more data is collected,
relationships get stronger. Virtual Distance has caused millions
of dollars in damages to organizations. It has also led to loss
of innovation opportunities and has created reputation problems for
some of the major financial institutions with regard to fraud and other
credit card loss issues.
Virtual Distance Assessment of WoK
Group
In my humble opinion, one of the
reasons why our group works so well is because Virtual Distance is
relatively low. Therefore these kinds of presentations, like our
Sunday talks, nightly meetings, etc., are highly effective. We
are especially low on Affinity Distance which as discussed earlier,
trumps all other kinds of distance. On the Cultural Values vector
- - Our values are clearly aligned
and this can easily be seen in a self-selected group such as
ours. On the Social Distance vector - Social Distance is not at
issue since we all believe that each of us has something valuable to
contribute and therefore we assess each other, and our relationships to
one another, based on "contributions" as opposed to formal status (at
least most if not all of the time). On the Relationship Distance
vector - Relationship Distance is also on the lower side because we all
know Piet I believe. Groups that are based primarily on "weak
ties" are often even stronger than those based on "strong ties".
So our group continues to meld together even though most of us do not
know each other directly.
Interdependence Distance Vector -
And finally Interdependence Distance is also low because we
"internalize" our mutual success - without it, this kind of group would
not be possible. Because we are low on Affinity Distance,
problems that create occasionally high Operational Distance, like
Communications Distance, Readiness Distance, etc., as well as our high
marks on Physical Distance, while they might have a temporary effect,
have little effect on the group's goal - the Working Hypothesis and
therefore, the group stays together and works ardently toward common
interests. This is the epitome of a group that is virtual and yet
is low on Virtual Distance.
Sample Comments
Bob Magrisso noted that he could
see Virtual Distance rising in the hospitals as more time is spent on
the computer. Others felt that it was something they could relate
to as well. Other comments regarding corporate executive's
acknowledgement of such issues were also discussed. Doug asked
what executives were doing about such problems. Karen said that
her experience has been such that executives care little for some of
the more significant people issues beginning to surface however some,
like her clients, are beginning to understand Virtual Distance problems
and take some action.
Another discussion ran along the
lines of machines taking over and the subjugation of humanity as being
upon us. This potential future is already here in some respects
as humans get silicon chip implants and the research in many
universities continues to head in a direction that would support other
human-computer hybrids.
Comments on the Experience
Regarding the experience - I was
personally very comfortable with the presentation in Qwaq. I had
just given a talk in SecondLife and realized acutely how I needed to
adjust my sensitivities in order to be genuinely involved in my
presentation with the audience. Being genuine in this case the
other side of automaton-like is something that is difficult in so much
as there are no facial expressions to react to and the presenter has no
ideas as to whether the group is engaged. Engagement calls for
people to be emotionally as well as cognitively connected. I
could eventually tell by the questions that many people were interested
in the topic and this fueled a sense of energy among the group as well
as for me. As I attend more of our sessions, I become more
comfortable with the environment and I begin to feel that it is a
"real" place in so much as we have created a shared space through our
participation in it. I also much prefer it to SecondLife where I
also have spent some time. To me the cartoon-nature of SecondLife
is more distracting than that of Qwaq. I was skeptical of Qwaq's
approach at first but having now experienced it my initial concerns
have been addressed.
I also wanted to thank everyone for
their participation and look forward to our continued collaborations on
the wh.
Karen Lojeski