Collaboration is bounded by the nature of the task and how the task is designed. The challenge is made more difficult in highly novel research, where uncertainty frustrates detailed design.

Many virtual teams unravel because task design is either poorly understood or because there is no agreed and aligned 'map' of the project, its component tasks and lines of authority.

How do task design and ICT shape the process of research?

Within this area of our research, we will be specifically testing for the impacts of task partitioning and structure (synchronous, asynchronous, sequential, independent) on collaboration patterns and intermediate research goals (achieved, delayed, advanced, altered). We will be exploring in particular the interfaces between tasks and how these are managed. In the case of projects involving the Lambda Rail, there are relevant comparisons to make with projects which do not use advanced mediating ICT.

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Collaboration across distance
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