Traditional work, for the purpose of this writing, is defined as work using a combination of f2f meetings, the telephone, e-mail, and videoconferencing. The word technology in this writing means any tool that can be used to communicate and collaborate over the Internet.

Teams that use technology to enhance their work have more flexibility in composition and location than teams that rely on traditional work. If all of a team's work is reachable with an Internet connection, then team members can be anywhere. This flexibility allows teams to be more diverse and to benefit from the differing views that diversity brings, connecting members from different geographical areas, different departments, and different levels of an organization. (And sometimes the distance between departments can seem as large as the distance between people separated by actual miles.) If a team member cannot attend meetings for a time because of sickness, family matters, or an assignment elsewhere, a work space online can keep the group moving forward. When a traditional work team loses a member, large numbers of files, both paper and otherwise, may need to be transferred from one employee to another, and the work can often be stuck in the doldrums. If all of a team's documents and work are in a shared online space, the loss of a member need not cause a major disruption of work. Technology can bring teams together from anywhere and keep work going.

Productivity is increased dramatically when team members can work efficiently outside of f2f meetings. If team members can work when they have time in their schedule, as opposed to being limited to the time in f2f meetings, they will be able to do more. In the past, the only ways to have discussions and work collaboratively on documents was through e-mail, over the phone, or in f2f meetings. A committee must make many decisions during its work life. Postponing decisions until everyone can be assembled in one room is impossible for some groups and for others merely slows down the work process.³ A f2f meeting is not always necessary for decisions and discussions any longer. Decisions can be made over e-mail, a discussion list, IM, or a wiki. “Multichannel synchronous communication supports the need for all members to share information by allowing rapid feedback that clarifies issues and provides referential integrity with a common document or drawing.”⁴ When a team leader has integrated technology into the work flow, it is a sign to me that my precious time is respected. I am trusted to do my work instead of being made to attend rounds of pointless meetings that take up time that I could have used to actually work on the work of the committee.

Most librarians and library staff are, at any given time, members of multiple local, state, and national committees and working groups. In libraries, we love committees, and everything from holiday parties to presidential initiatives has its very own group of people slaving away to make it great. Efficiently tracking the work of each of the teams of which a person is a member can require a large amount of that person's time. When a work group uses technology to track time lines, documents, discussions, and work products, however, the technology does the tracking. Team members can check in and contribute as needed. No more lost e-mails. No more searching for the contact information for a committee member. The support provided by the technology reduces the frustration felt by all.

Integrating technology into the work process increases productivity in other ways as well. Many employees prefer to do work in their own environments, whether that is in their office or cubicle, in the coffee place down the street, or at home. Studies have shown that employees are happier and more productive when they can stay in familiar and comfortable surrounds and still have access to the information they need to complete their work.⁵ Sometimes, workers need information from the file drawer at their desk or notes saved on their office computer, but I do not know many people who would rather work in a noisy cube farm than over a nice cup of coffee at the local wifi hotspot. Some businesses, like Best Buy, are recognizing this trend and allowing workers to make their own schedules and work from anywhere.⁶ Trusting employees and team members is very empowering. Employees who feel trusted are more likely to produce better work because they feel engaged. Even if your organization is not as radical as Best Buy, there are reasons to move more work online. It blurs the distinction between committee time and work time, allowing individuals to do committee work whenever they have time available. Always-open technology means that you can do committee work anytime, from your desk or somewhere else, so there is less separation between time at your desk and time spent in committee work.⁷ Organizations trying to do more work, or the same amount of work, with fewer employees, need to heed the idea that if your staff members have better access to productivity-enhancing technology, they can get more done.

Although technology does not guarantee a problem-free work process, it helps solve some process problems frequently found in more traditional teams. Virtual teams, using a variety of tools, have different problems. They have to keep momentum, but they are “… free of many of the psychological and practical obstacles to full and effective participation that hobble their transitional counterparts.”⁸ In observing the online behavior of teams, Majchrzak concluded that virtual teams have fewer instances of crafty Bcc and Cc, fewer meetings after the meetings, and less inability to have full and honest discussions. Of course, this observation is a generalization, and it would not necessarily hold true for a virtual working group with a weak leader. Leadership and management of virtual teams are extremely important and are discussed later in this issue. However, if a virtual workspace is designed well and utilized well by a team, information can be “… more effectively shared and disagreements can surface and be discussed earlier.”⁹

Team members who have access to technology options also tend to feel more engaged in the team itself. Many online communication structures, such as IM and message boards, feel less formal than f2f meetings. Informality can help team members feel more comfortable with each other and form closer ties.¹⁰ The most productive teams have a sense of identity, which is discussed later, and informal communication can feed this identity. Some people find it hard to imagine that virtual teams get to know each other well, especially when the group never meets together in person, but in a study of virtual teams from many different high-profile businesses, Majchrzak found that “effective teams spent time to get to know each other and create a group identity.”¹¹

In some libraries, locked-down IT systems greatly inhibit the ability of employees to use the Internet and tools available on the Web. This is unfortunate. Any tool can interfere with work when used irresponsibly, but for most tools, the benefits far outweigh the chance of misuse. We allow employees to have phones and e-mail even though they can, especially in the case of e-mail, waste a lot of time playing with these tools. Even if your library prohibits or blocks access to something, your staff may have figured out a way around this problem. Most employees use technological tools that they find helpful, whether or not that use is sanctioned. A recent study on employee practices and IT environments found that 86 percent of workers use unsupported tools to increase their productivity.¹² Eighty-six percent is a huge majority of our staff. If use of these tools were sanctioned, imagine the levels of sharing and productivity in your organization. If there were an organizationally accepted way for employees to share tools that they find useful, productivity could increase immeasurably.

People tend to use whatever tools help them to do their jobs better, faster, and in the manner that they find the most comfortable. The use of virtual tools is not limited to virtual teams. E-tools are chosen “regardless of geographic distance … because they support the way project teams work… .”¹³ The best use of e-tools is in a combination of traditional and new methods. Each group should choose the combination of tools that will best suit its needs. Some teams may not be ready for an all-virtual work environment, but teams and employees should have the chance to integrate more technology into their work flow. Technology is making our work more productive. It is making our work more mobile. It is allowing us to take the next step in the evolution of the workplace.