Description
Given the unique affordances of virtual worlds, it is important to study how teams function in such environments to complete tasks. One framework that has been used to understand how teams function is the punctuated equilibrium (PE) model, which provides an explanation for how teams complete tasks in a temporal frame, but falls short in explaining why teams carry out processes in certain ways. Preliminary analysis of data collected from 84 teams performing a complex decision-making task in the virtual world of Second Life shows evidence for the PE model. However, there is also evidence of unique social and contextual affordances of virtual worlds that enable members to use boundary objects and revise individual and shared mental models as they interact. Based on these preliminary results, we hope to arrive at a model of how teams complete tasks in virtual worlds.
Recommended Citation
Goel, Lakshmi and Rehm, Sven, "How do teams complete tasks in virtual worlds? Toward an iterative process of task completion" (2017). AMCIS 2017 Proceedings. 19.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2017/Virtual/Presentations/19
How do teams complete tasks in virtual worlds? Toward an iterative process of task completion
Given the unique affordances of virtual worlds, it is important to study how teams function in such environments to complete tasks. One framework that has been used to understand how teams function is the punctuated equilibrium (PE) model, which provides an explanation for how teams complete tasks in a temporal frame, but falls short in explaining why teams carry out processes in certain ways. Preliminary analysis of data collected from 84 teams performing a complex decision-making task in the virtual world of Second Life shows evidence for the PE model. However, there is also evidence of unique social and contextual affordances of virtual worlds that enable members to use boundary objects and revise individual and shared mental models as they interact. Based on these preliminary results, we hope to arrive at a model of how teams complete tasks in virtual worlds.