Editing Remote work (section)

===Communication technology===
Effective group communication involves various [[nonverbal communication]] characteristics. Because distance limits interpersonal interaction between members of distributed groups, these characteristics often become constrained. Communication media focuses on alternative ways to achieve these qualities and promote effective [[communication]]. This section addresses communication technology in relation to the theories of grounding and mutual knowledge and discusses the costs and benefits of various communication technology tools.

====Grounding and technology====

[[Grounding in communication]] is the process of updating the evolving common ground, or shared information, between participants. The base of mutual knowledge is important for effective coordination and communication.<ref name=":0a" /> Additionally, participants constantly gather various forms of verbal and nonverbal evidence to establish understanding of change and task.

The following are means of grounding and collecting evidence:

{| class=wikitable
|-
! scope="col" | Quality
! scope="col" | Description
|-
! align="center" | Co-presence
|When sharing the same physical environment, participants are able to easily and hear what the other is doing and looking at.
|-
! align="center" | Visibility
|The participants are able to see each other and are able to pick up non-verbal facial cues and body language.
|-
! align="center" | Audibility
|When the participants are able to communicate by speaking, they are able to pick up voice intonation and utterance timing.
|-
! align="center" | Cotemporality
| Efficiency is promoted when an utterance is produced just about when it is received and understood, without delay.
|-
! align="center" | Simultaneity
|Messages can be simultaneously conveyed and received by both participants.
|-
! align="center" | Sequentiality
|The participants speak only with each other without intervening turns from conversations with other people.
|-
! align="center" | Reviewability
|Participants are able to return to a physical form of the exchange at a later time.
|-
! align="center" | Revisability
|Participants are able to privately revise their statements before sending their message.
|}

Different forms of [[communication]] result in the varied presence of these communication characteristics. Therefore, the nature of communication technology can either promote or inhibit grounding between participants. The absence of grounding information results in reduced ability to read and understand social cues. This increases the social distance between them.<ref name=":0a">{{cite book|last1=Herbert|first1=Clark |title=Grounding in Communication |year=1991 |publisher=L.B. Resnick, R.M. Levine, & S.D. Teasley |location=Washington, DC |pages=127–149 |last2=Brennan |first2=Susan}}</ref>

====Costs to grounding change====

The lack of one of these characteristics generally forces participants to use alternative grounding techniques, because the costs associated with grounding change. There is often a trade-off between the costs: one cost will increase as another decreases. There is also often a correlation between the costs. The following table highlights several of the costs that can change as the medium of communication changes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gergle |first1=D. |last2=Kraut |first2=R. E. |last3=Fussell |first3=S. R. |title=Using Visual Information for grounding and awareness in collaborative tasks; in press |journal=Human Computer Interaction}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable
|-
! scope="col" | Cost
! scope="col" | Description
! scope="col" | Paid By
|-
! align="center" | Formulation
|Time and effort increase as utterances are created and revised and as utterances become more complicated.
|Speaker
|-
! align="center" | Production
|Effort invested in producing a message varies depending on the medium of communication.
|Speaker
|-
! align="center" | Reception
|Listening is generally easier than reading.
|Addressee
|-
! align="center" | Understanding
|Costs are higher the more often that the addressee has to formulate the appropriate context of the conversation.
|Addressee
|-
! align="center" | Start-up
|The cost of starting up a new discourse. Attention needs to be commanded, the message formulated, and the message needs to be received.
|Both
|-
! align="center" | Delay
|The cost of delaying an utterance in order to more carefully plan, revise and execute the communication.
|Both
|-
! align="center" | Asynchrony
|The cost associated with the work required to cue one participant to stop and another to start.
|Both
|-
! align="center" | Speaker change
|The cost associated with the work required to cue one participant to stop and another to start.
|Both
|-
! align="center" | Display
|The cost associated with displaying non-verbal cues.
|Both
|-
! align="center" | Fault
|The cost associated with producing a mistaken message.
|Both
|-
! align="center" | Repair
|The cost to repair the message and send the correct one.
|Both
|}

====Examples of communication technology====

; Structured Management (Hinds & Kiesler)
It has been argued that work can be adapted to individual situations through task decomposition and version control. This can be applied to distributed groups by allowing groups to divide the work into manageable chunks. Group members can work autonomously and come together to produce a finished product. Many recent software developments have been built to specifically address this method.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hinds |first1=Pamela |last2=Kiesler|first2=Sara |title=Distributed Work |year=2002 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |pages=57–73}}</ref>

; Email
Email prevents the communication of verbal inferences, such as sarcasm and humor and, additionally, leaves email writers unaware of what their communication is lacking. When people try to anticipate the perspective of their email audience, studies suggest that they end up pulling upon their own experience and perspective instead. This often leads to inconsistencies in email conversation and chaotic communication.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Egocentrism over e-mail: Can we communicate as well as we think? |year=2005 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |pages=925–936 |last1=Kruger |first1=J. |last2=Epley |first2=N. |last3=Parker |first3=J. |last4=Ng |first4=Z. W.|volume=89 |issue=6 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.925 |pmid=16393025 }}</ref>