Collaboration via E-mail and Internet Relay Chat: Understanding Time and Technology    

The purpose of this preliminary study was to structure and begin to study how collaborators working across distance perceive and use e-mail and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to facilitate their collaborative and decision-making processes. Students from the University of Western Sydney and the University of Minnesota worked in pairs to respond to four decision-making scenarios over a four-week period. Using e-mail, students came to a decision more quickly than when using IRC, and when IRC was slow, students reverted to a series of rapid-fire e-mail messages to facilitate their work. Students appreciated the cross-cultural experience; however, they struggled to create a shared communicative context via the Internet.

Duin, Ann Hill and Ray Archee. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Collaboration>Email

The End of E-Mail

It's supposed to make life easier, but e-mail has become a big pain. Enter the wiki, new software that could change the way you communicate.

Dahl, Darren. Inc. Magazine (2006). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Email

"I Sent You the File as Plain Text!" And Other Lies

Procedures for how to send a file as RTF or plain text in the body of an email.

Stieren, Carl. Simware (1998). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Email

The Influence of E-Mail as an Interoffice Communication Tool in Small Organizations    

E-mail has significantly impacted the way we communicate in business, possibly going so far as to affect the social structure of organizations. One under-explored effect of e-mail is how it impacts communication in smaller organizations. Given the ability of regular face-to-face interaction, is e-mail necessary to boost communication? A report of employee attitudes in one small business did provide an opportunity to observe the impact of e-mail on communications and employee attitudes. As a result, it is suspected that interoffice e-mail may serve to link formal and informal communication channels, particularly in terms of including managers to the informal communications network.

Adrian, C. Mitchell. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Workplace>Collaboration>Email

Time-Consuming Email Communications

Our documentation and advertising bureau mails five emails with attachments on the average per day to different customers, partners and other service organisations. The sizes of the attachments vary roughly from 50 KB up to 2 MB. About 60% of our emails with attachments don't create any problems with the addressee. However, 40% need additional attention. This fraction causes communication problems.

Thiele, Ulrich. TC-FORUM (2000). Articles>Collaboration>Correspondence>Email

You Can't E-Mail Face Time—Employees Want Bosses Up Close and Personal

Face time. According to the fourth annual survey of the North American workplace, from Netherlands-based staffing organization Randstad, those two words best describe the most preferred way for employers to communicate with employees. The 2003 Employee Review is based on findings from 2,826 telephone interviews conducted by RoperASW, making it one of the most extensive employee attitude surveys conducted in the U.S. “E-mail is far behind face-to-face meetings as the means of communication most preferred by employees,” said Joanne Reichardt, vice president of corporate communications and public affairs for Randstad North America. “In short, everyone wants face time.”

Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Email

Does Email Communication Increase Participation in Organizational Decision Making?

One of the main issues crossing the fields of organization theory, communication theory, and information technology is whether email communication does increase participation in decision making. Common sense and some case studies suggest the so-called "democratization argument": since email allows direct (non-filtered) communication between people and identity/status concealment, it enhances more freely and easy participation in decision making.

Biggiero, Lucio. Social Science Research Network (2008). Articles>Collaboration>Organizational Communication>Email