Hello there, and welcome back.
Now that we've seen how many groups are using technology these days,
let's take a step back and consider
some theoretical perspectives that can inform our use of technology in groups.
After all, we never want to incorporate technology in our groups without thinking about
the broader implications of that technology and how it might impact our group.
Thankfully, that's been a keen interest of scholars for many years,
so we have a wealth of knowledge about various factors
to consider when utilizing technology for group communication.
In particular, researchers have
developed insightful theoretical models of communication technology,
to further our understanding of this important dynamic of group interaction.
In this video, we'll focus on two of
the most relevant models for our purposes in this course.
First, is the model of media richness and second,
is the dual capacity model of communication technology.
These models can help us make
better decisions about incorporating technology into our groups,
depending upon what we're trying to accomplish.
So let's get started and learn more about these models of communication technology.
We'll begin with the model of media richness.
This theoretical model states
that effective communication in terms of message transmission comes from
matching the richness of the communication medium with the ambiguity of the task at hand.
Face to face communication is probably
the richest communication medium because all the verbal and nonverbal cues are present,
and even the physical presence of other bodies influences the interaction.
Now, in contrast, a quick handwritten note is a pretty thin or lean communication medium,
because it lacks many of the important aspects of
communication beyond the mere content of the message.
Scholars argue that media richness should be considered in relation to task ambiguity,
in order to achieve effective communication,
as represented by this chart here.
More ambiguous tasks should utilize richer communication media,
and less ambiguous tasks should utilize leaner communication media.
That's why, if your group needs to have a difficult conversation it's
probably best to do it in a meeting where everyone is physically present.
But if you just need to provide a quick and straightforward update,
you probably should do that via email or text,
no need for a face to face meeting.
The model of media richness should
influence what technologies we incorporate in our groups,
based on the tasks we're working on and how we need to
interact with each other in order to accomplish those tasks successfully.
The convenience of a phone or video conference is great but it could be
the wrong way to interact if your group is involved in a complicated deliberation,
in order to make a difficult decision.
Conversely, some groups waste a lot of time
organizing and attending meetings in person to discuss
unambiguous tasks that might be accomplished more
efficiently and productively through more lean communication media.
So as you incorporate technology into your group to communicate with each other,
be sure to consider the relationship between task ambiguity and
media richness in order to enhance the effectiveness of your group communication.
Next, let's explore a second model of
communication technology that complicates the idea of media richness just a bit,
the dual capacity model.
In general, we tend to think about communication technologies based on
their functional capacity to share information and convey our message.
Now, this aligns with the transmission approach to communication,
we talked about way back in module one.
But we also learned that communication involves
so much more than just transmitting information.
Communication is primarily about social construction.
Communication is about meaning, interpretation, and understanding.
The dual capacity model of communication technology
focuses our attention on this aspect of communication.
The key idea here is that every communication technology has two capacities;
data carrying capacity - the basic message content,
and symbol carrying capacity - the additional
meaning people have for a particular communication technology.
This means that communication technologies are not
neutral and we just have to focus on the messages they convey.
No, the communication technologies
themselves have meaning and significance in our culture.
They say something beyond the basic message content that they carry.
For example, e-mailing and texting are not neutral or innocent mechanisms
of technical functionality that merely transmit information from senders to receivers,
though they certainly do at least that.
Now instead, e-mailing and texting means something in our society.
They have particular cultural significance as technologies themselves.
Perhaps you remember the romantic comedy,
"You've Got Mail," a whole movie created around email,
a new cultural phenomenon at the time.
Or more recently, maybe you've seen
the creative and compelling portrayal of
text conversations on the Netflix drama, "House of Cards."
Because of their cultural significance,
we have all sorts of norms and expectations for what getting
a message via email or text, signifies or means.
We think e-mailing or texting are more or less appropriate for
different situations even if they are used to convey the exact same message.
Some people might appreciate a quick text message,
for example, while others are offended by the lack of personal touch.
E-mail tends to signify a level of formality,
detachment or professionalism at least in our culture,
while texting suggests informality and efficiency.
I could easily send the dean of my college a quick text message if I had a question.
But culturally, it seems a lot more appropriate to send an email,
make a phone call, or even set up a personal appointment.
Even if the task is relatively unambiguous and
a thin or lean communication medium seems appropriate,
according to the model of media richness, for some people,
it still might be preferred to increase the communication richness of that interaction.
Like if you have a straightforward,
yet potentially controversial message for a fellow group member,
probably best to communicate that message in person even though
the ambiguity of the task might seem to
suggest a leaner communication medium would be more effective.
The dual capacity model encourages us to think beyond just the message content
delivered by a particular technology but also
the symbolic capacity of the technology itself,
and how that always influences,
how messages are interpreted and understood.
So that's an overview of the two important theoretical models that can
enhance our understanding of technology and group communication,
the model of media richness and the dual capacity model.
Every communication technology has
varying levels of media richness and we should consider
which communication technology to use in our groups based on
the relationship between media richness and task ambiguity.
However, the dual capacity model of
communication technology complicates our basic understanding of media richness moving us
beyond mere information transmission to
a greater appreciation of the symbol carrying capacity of any communication technology.
Of course, no communication technology will solve
all the problems in our groups and all technologies can be misused.
But we can think more critically about the implications
of incorporating various technologies into our groups and
make better decisions about which technologies will help us best accomplish our goals
thus enhancing our group communication and improving the overall quality of our work.
In our next two videos,
we'll explore further issues for utilizing technologies in our group work,
both practical and conceptual considerations we need to keep in mind.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Matthew A. Koschmann, PhDAssociate Professor
