Team Brainstorming....Tangible or Virtual?

Virtual means of communication has been making itself known through all the evolution of social networking. From the Virtual network sites where “some individuals” feel more comfortable expressing themselves, to the Virtual team where diversity plays a role to enable better and efficient working relationship. When I read the article The Strange Beauty of Virtual Teams by Jessica Lipnacks and Jeffrey Stamps, I found out about the research done to determine the more effective way of team brainstorming. According to this article,

Instead of regarding the lack of face-to-face as an impediment, our teams found it advantageous. Many projects came in under-budget, ahead of schedule, and with breakthrough results. The outcome of one such project, conducted at what was then Boeing-Rocketdyne, was so successful that our HBR co-authors, along with the project’s managers, published it as a case study under the title, “Radical Innovation without Collocation.”

The advice given from the 6 ways to build trust with your virtual team by John Butler pretty much covers the important fears or issues lots of people would want addressed. These were availability, Competence, Consistency, Fairness, Openness and Promise of fulfillment. These factors have to be present for trust to grow. Still I ask, is it enough? From what I observed from my sojourn into second life, you can be anybody that you want to be in there. How would you know that a certain person is giving a fair contribution? Is this person who they portray? Give me your honest opinion….