Today, globally distributed teams in multinational organisations operate across time zones, have differential access to communications infrastructure and services, and work in very different organisational and cultural contexts[95]. The distributed nature of these teams makes it extremely difficult to schedule face to face meetings and this, in turn, makes it difficult for members to work in a coordinated manner. Group members must communicate directly and extensively in these situations if they are to coordinate their activities successfully [96].
In an attempt to support this process, groupware applications have been developed providing a variety of facilities to enhance group work. Groupware is the name given to computer systems that support groups of people engaged in a common task or goal and that provide an interface to a shared environment [97]. These systems attempt to provide users with up to date information on the activities of the other group members and the ability to communicate with the group in a synchronous or asynchronous manner. The technologies are utilised to overcome space and time constraints of group meetings, to increase the range and depth of information access, and to improve group task performance effectiveness [98]. Many provide facilities for scheduling of meetings, collaborative editing and the ability to engage in spontaneous interactions with group members. Through the use of a groupware system, coordination may improve as group members are able to see how what they are doing fits in with the overall goals of the team [96].
As in designing any computer system, developing groupware applications that are accepted by users is difficult. The challenge is creating a system that works well with people of different backgrounds, in different places, and often at different times [99].
With multiple users sharing the same interface there are added complexities including how and when you notify users of changes to resources and the implementation of concurrency control. Designers must have an understanding of the degree of homogeneity of users, of the possible roles people play in cooperative work, and who the key decision makers are and what influences them [100]. Issues such as ease of use and responsiveness are even more important in groupware systems as their success is dependent on getting almost all group members to use them. Designers must also be aware of exceptions to the normal flow of communications and activities to ensure the technology is not obstructive in these situations.
Even when these considerations are made, due to the nature of such systems they still suffer from the problem of gaining user support. A system will generally only be seen as worth using if a large enough number of other users already exist. People are attracted to systems where there is a considerable amount of activity and this activity may excite or motivate them to use it themselves [101]. For this reason, it is especially important to encourage key people within the organisation to become active system users and promote its use to others[77]. This can be seen in the adoption of many of the systems that will be discussed, where ‘word of mouth’ was often the primary influencing factor in increasing the size of the user population.
Understanding the benefits of the system can be one of the key factors affecting its use. Orlikowski argues that without proper training and demonstrations people struggle to understand and therefore realise the benefits of groupware [20]. If their technological frames do not adjust to the collaborative benefits of the system, they will evaluate it in relation to personal tools that they are familiar with and often fail to use those features that could benefit group work most. While groupware is expected to provide benefits to all group members, this is often uneven. Some members may be required to do additional work to enter or process information that the application requires or produces[102]. Designers must recognise this issue and attempt to reduce its impact. However, making the workload and benefits gained completely even is almost impossible. Demonstrations of the benefits of the tools may help by showing people what they gain from the extra work.
In their study of the use of TeamSCOPE; a groupware system developed to provide a central location for awareness information in combination with more traditional groupware features such as message boards and shared file repositories, Steinfield et al. found that group size, the level of group maturity, the accessibility of the tool and the need for sharing were influential factors in the level usage [95]. Structural properties of the organisation including policies and reward systems can also affect use, with many organisations having a culture based on competition. Where such a culture exists, it is likely that changes will be needed that cannot be brought in by the system alone and these changes may be met with resistance [20]. The lack of hierarchies and the often informal nature of communication in many systems can be another source of resistance, with some managers feeling that the system is reducing their authority and hence their level of control.
As previously mentioned, one function provided in groupware systems is notifications of others activities. Maintaining awareness of the day to day project related activities of group members within the system is essential for distributed groups. They have little opportunity to physically observe what one another are actually doing and this awareness is seen as essential to coordination of group work [95]. When decisions and outcomes depend on integrating different team members’ efforts, knowing the status of the others’ tasks is particularly important [96].