Instant Messaging and Team Performance in a Simulated Command and Control Environment (original) (raw)

Recent trends in military acquisition have emphasized the desire to introduce collaboration technologies into the command and control environment (Kaufman, 2005). Personnel in this environment may be disparate in terms of rank, occupation, and even geographical location, yet are expected to rapidly coalesce into functioning teams in order to meet task requirements (Boiney, 2005). It has been proposed (e.g., Alberts & Hayes, 2003) that integration and performance may be facilitated through emerging collaborative technologies, such as email, instant messaging (IM), virtual whiteboards, and videoconferencing. Proponents of network-centric operations have argued that these technologies might engender a degree of command decentralization that would result in increased situational awareness and task flexibility (Alberts & Hayes, 2003). However, there are growing concerns about the potential negative impact on performance associated with the use of collaborative tools in distributed team environments. For example, in a synthesis of the collaboration technology literature, Bordia (1997) examined the effects of text-based collaboration technologies (i.e., email and IM) on team processes. Specifically, Bordia (1997) examined 18 experimental studies which compared team decision making effectiveness, time to reach a decision, and team member satisfaction between teams restricted to collaboration technologies for communication and teams that employed face-to-face communication. Bordia (1997) concluded that teams restricted to collaboration technologies made poorer decisions, measured both objectively (e.g., meeting task goals) and subjectively (e.g., quality of solutions), and took more time to reach a decision; moreover, team members experienced less satisfaction with team processes. Interestingly, this pattern of results was observed across different task types, suggesting the ubiquity of the observed effects. In addition, Baltes, Dickson, Sherman, Bauer, and LaGanke (2002) completed a metaanalysis exploring performance differences between collaboration technology and faceto-face teams. In their meta-analysis, Baltes et al. (2002) examined 27 experimental studies of text-based collaboration technologies, analyzing them on dimensions similar to those employed Bordia (1997). The results of the meta-analysis were similar to the conclusions reached by Bordia (1997), dramatically favoring face-to-face communication over communication mediated by collaboration technologies across many different tasks.