Role of communication technologies in virtual work

Advances in information and communication technology have shaped new possibilities for collaboration and coordination and given rise to myriad configurations of virtual work. This chapter describes three broad shifts that have occurred in the past few decades in the use and study of communication technologies: The shift in the value of communication technology and technology mediation, the spatiotemporal shift in the use of communication technologies, and the shift from closed to open communication technologies. Each of these changes presents distinct opportunities and challenges for virtual workers and influence a variety of individual, group, and organizational outcomes. In particular, various communication technology affordances, constant connectivity, and the openness of organizational communication technologies enabling visibility with unknown audiences all have implications for contemporary and future virtual work.