PHYSICAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL SPACES: WORK AND HELP IN THE ELECTRONIC WORKPLACE J.D. EVELAND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM Presented to the 1996 International Social Networks Conference, Charleston SC, February 1996

Some of these slides are a little cryptic; after all, they’re intended to be talked about, not just shown. If you have questions about any of them, use the presentation feedback form available where you clicked to start this presentation to send the question/comment to me. I’ll post responses as soon as I can.

THE ROLE OF SUPPORT NETWORKS MOST LEARNING IS SOCIAL (BANDURA) HELP IS A WAY OF LEARNING MOST HELP PROVISION IS LOCAL WORKGROUPS USUALLY HAVE “GURUS” GURUS SHARE TECHNICAL INFORMATION GURUS PROVIDE “OPINION LEADERSHIP” GURUS NEED TO BE ACCESSIBLE ®

CONCLUSIONS FROM PREVIOUS WORK HELP NETWORKS TEND TO BE WORKGROUP- BASED, WITH CENTRAL SUPPORT “HIGH PROVIDERS” FOCUS HELP NETWORKS AND CHANNEL EXPERTISE INTO THEM HELP PROVIDERS ARE JUST LIKE US, ONLY MORE SO HELP NETWORKS NEED SUPPORT AND CULTIVATION

RESEARCH QUESTIONS EXTENDING THIS WORK WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HELP NETWORKS AND OTHER WORKGROUP RELATIONSHIPS? HOW DOES PHYSICAL LOCATION AFFECT HELP AND WORK? HOW DOES “ORGANIZATIONAL DISTANCE” AFFECT THESE RELATIONSHIPS?

RESEARCH CONTEXT CGS -- A PRIVATE GRADUATE SCHOOL –2000 STUDENTS, 200 STAFF –NO “TECHNICAL” DEPARTMENTS DIVERSE SMALL PROGRAMS DISTRIBUTED ENVIRONMENT MAJOR TRANSITION IN COMPUTING SUPPORT

THE CLAREMONT CAMPUS

CLAREMONT GRADUATE SCHOOL

PROJECT STRUCTURE THREE SURVEY ROUNDS –PRE-HARDWARE –ONE YEAR OF EXPERIENCE –NETWORK EXPERIENCE SURVEYS COVER: –DEMOGRAPHICS –CAPABILITIES USED –INFORMATION WORK –SATISFACTION –EXPECTATIONS –INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS

INTERACTION NETWORKS SURVEYED PEOPLE WITH WHOM THEY WORK REGULARLY PEOPLE TO WHOM THEY GO FOR HELP WHEN THEY HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE COMPUTER PEOPLE TO WHOM THEY PROVIDE SUCH HELP

DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE SAMPLE FACULTY DEP’T STAFF ADMIN STAFF SUPERVISOR MALE FEMALE MEDIAN AGE MEAN EDUCATIONAL LEVEL (1-4 SCALE) TOTAL N ROUND 1ROUND 2 MEDIAN JOB TENURE AT CGS 5 YEARS 46 32% PERCENT FULL TIME 68% 71% 99 36% 14% 35% 15% YEARS 36% 64% 78% 82 37% 13% 36% 16%

CONNECTIONS IN THE NETWORK WORK NETWORKHELP NETWORK WITHIN WORK GROUP ACROSS WORK GROUPS WITH ACC OUTSIDE CGS 140 (31%) 68 (16%) 125 (29%) 103 (24%) 184 (57%) 73 (22%) 11 (3%) 59 (18%)

AVERAGE HELP RELATIONSHIPS, BY FUNCTION FACULTY DEP’T STAFF ADMIN. STAFF SUPERVISORS ACC STAFF RELATIONSN

PATTERNS OF HELP HIGH PROVIDERS NON- PROVIDERS HIGH PROVIDERS NON- PROVIDERS ACC OUTSIDE SOURCES 10% 26% 14% 4% 22% 10% 54% 60% RECIPIENTRECIPIENT SOURCE

THE CURRENT INVESTIGATION COMPARISON OF FOUR NETWORKS –WORK RELATIONSHIPS –COMPUTER HELP RELATIONSHIPS –ADMINISTRATIVE RELATIONSHIPS –PHYSICAL LAYOUT INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES AGGREGATED TO WORKGROUP LEVEL INTERACTIONS STANDARDIZED BY VARYING WORKGROUP SIZES

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NETWORKS DEGREE CENTRALIZATION BETWEENNESS CENTRALIZATION WORK RELATIONSHIPS HELP RELATIONSHIPS NODES = 26 CLOSENESS AVERAGE NUMBER OF TIES AVERAGE DISTANCE BETWEEN NODES

THE ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE VICE PRESIDENT BUS. & FINANCE PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT ACAD. AFFAIRS HUMANITIES POLITICS AND ECONOMICS EDUCATION ORG. & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES DRUCKER MANAGEMENT CENTER VICE PRESIDENT DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION SCIENCES BUDGET CAREER SERVICES ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT STUDENT ACCOUNTS REGISTRAR STUDENT ACCOUNTS DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC AFFAIRS MUSICHISTORYMATHPHILOSOPHYENGLISHART

A “BARRIER” MODEL MEASURES HASSLES INVOLVED IN GETTING FROM PLACE TO PLACE FACTORS ARE (EACH WORTH ONE DIFFICULTY POINT): –WALKING DOWN A HALL –CLIMBING STAIRS –LEAVING OR ENTERING A BUILDING –CROSSING A STREET –PASSING A BUILDING –WALKING A BLOCK OPERATIONALIZING “DISTANCE”

ART TO MANAGEMENT = BARRIER FACTOR OF 6

SO...WHAT DID WE FIND OUT? THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE NETWORKS LOOK LIKE THIS: USING QWP MATRIX CORRELATION PROCEDURES...BROUGHT TO YOU BY THOSE WONDERFUL FOLKS AT UCINET... HELP ADMIN. CLOSENESS PHYSICAL CLOSENESS WORK HELP ADMIN. CLOS

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO HELPING MORE THAN TWO PHYSICAL BARRIERS BECOME A PROBLEM TO HELPING THE FORMAL STRUCTURE DOESN’T MATTER MUCH IN HELPING SO...WHAT DID WE FIND OUT? HELP ADMIN. CLOSENESS PHYSICAL CLOSENESS WORK HELP ADMIN. CLOS

WORK RELATIONSHIPS

HARPER AC COMP MCMANUS HUM. COMPLEX MANAGEMENT MATH ART

HELP RELATIONSHIPS

HARPER AC COMP MCMANUS HUM. COMPLEX MANAGEMENT MATH ART

HELP RELATIONSHIPS WITHOUT ACC

HARPER AC COMP MCMANUS HUM. COMPLEX MANAGEMENT MATH CAREER SERV.

LOCATIONS VICE PRESIDENT BUS. & FINANCE PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT ACAD. AFFAIRS HUMANITIES POLITICS AND ECONOMICS EDUCATION ORG. & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES DRUCKER MANAGEMENT CENTER VICE PRESIDENT DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION SCIENCES BUDGET CAREER SERVICES ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT STUDENT ACCOUNTS REGISTRARMAIL DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC AFFAIRS MUSICHISTORYMATHPHILOSOPHYENGLISHART HARPER AC COMP MCMANUS HUM. COMPLEX MANAGEMENT MATH ART CAREER SERVICES

CONCLUSIONS HERE... PEOPLE GET COMPUTER HELP FROM THOSE WITH WHOM THEY SHARE WORK PROBLEMS THE FORMAL STRUCTURE IS LESS IMPORTANT THAN EITHER WORKING RELATIONSHIPS OR PHYSICAL DISTANCE PEOPLE DON’T WALK FAR TO GET HELP MAYBE CGS IS JUST ODD...OR MAYBE NOT...

NEXT STEPS SEE WHAT’S GOING ON IN OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THINK ABOUT WHAT “DISTANCE” MEANS IN AN AGE OF NETWORKS --TOWARDS THE “VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION?” CONTINUE TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO BUILD “HELPING ORGANIZATIONS” THINK ABOUT LAYOUT