Jonathan Cummings and Sara Kiesler studied 491 multi-university collaborations funded by the US National Science Foundation Information Technology Resource Program.  In an article published in Research Policy, they concluded that there was a negative correlation between project outcomes and the number of remote sites.   They attribute their findings to reduced coordination activities between team sites.

Cummings and Kiesler’s article identifies four types of coordination activities that help project teams integrate:

• Division of project  responsibilities- Team science managers divide projects based on expertise.  However, tasks at different sites can be interrelated.   Coordinating interelated tasks can enhance productivity.
• Shared resources- Project sites can share databases, analytical tools, or remote instruments.  Leveraging shared resources reduces project costs and permits standardization of methods.
• Knowledge transfer – Transferring knowledge between sites leads to higher levels of cooperation and improved outcomes.  Knowledge transfer between can create synergistic effects and lead to new insights.
• Direct communication – Regular project meetings or conferences help teams share information and team members build mutual trust.

Distance imposes barriers between virtual team  sites that effect all coordination activities.  Barriers reduce coordination of interrelated sites, increase the difficulty of sharing resources, reduce knowledge transfer, and lead to fewer less frequent meetings.  Overcoming the barriers can increase increasing the time and effort needed for coordination with an attendant higher cost.  Cummings and Kiesler argue that higher coordination costs are inherent in virtual project teams.  Many virtual teams forgo the additional cost.  The result is poorer project outcomes. 

We believe it is possible to reduce coordination costs of virtual team science projects  by using a virtual workspace that contains tools for messaging, collaborative document sharing and editing, messaging, instant communication, workflow management, and application sharing.   Virtual workspaces can also be designed to include remote instrument sharing.  Adding project management capabilities to a virtual workspace will also help reduce coordination costs.  It would be interesting to repeat Cummings and Kiesler’s analysis comparing virtual teams using project management tools and a virtual workspace to control teams who do not.

How are you reducing coordination costs in team science projects?