Conversational Coherence in Instant Messaging and Getting Work Done
Author(s)
Woerner, Stephanie L.
Yates, JoAnne
Orlikowski, Wanda J.
Date Issued
April 20, 2007
Series/Report no.
MIT Sloan School of Management Working Paper
4630-06
Abstract
This paper explores the critical role conversational
coherence plays in facilitating the ongoing, distributed
work of one virtual team as they engage in instant messaging
(IM) conversations to communicate, coordinate,
and collaborate. In studying the IM conversations
of team members over the course of a month, a
number of challenges to coherence emerged as they
communicated with each other and worked together.
These challenges include two previously identified
challenges—lack of simultaneous feedback, and disrupted
turn adjacency—and two additional challenges:
multi-tasking, and authority. We describe the team’s
responses to these challenges and conclude by discussing
implications for research.
Subjects
Instant Messaging
Persistent DSpace Link
