Situational Awareness in Collaborative Work Environments
In: Brian Whitworth and Aldo de Moor (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Socio-Technical Design and Social Networking Systems, Vol. II. Hershey: Information Science Reference, 2009, 636-650
15 Pages Posted: 19 Apr 2017
Date Written: July 1, 2009
Abstract
This chapter addresses awareness support to enhance teamwork in co-located collaborative environments. In particular, the authors focus on the concept of situational awareness which is essential for successful team collaboration. Mutual situational awareness leads to informal social interactions, development of shared working cultures which are essential aspects of maintaining working relationships. First, an overview of the studies on team coordination and situational awareness support is presented. Second, a collaborative working environment is described for scientific teams in a molecular biology experimentation domain. Then, the results of practical case studies are discussed, as well as situational awareness support for scientific teams in collaborative environments. Finally, the authors discuss practical challenges in design and evaluation of group support systems for collaborative working environments and our multi-level analysis approach. The chapter gives new insights into how shared displays support group awareness, and how to design and evaluate interactive systems and visualisations that afford awareness in order to stimulate existing and new forms of collaboration in advanced working environments.
Keywords: Co-location, situational awareness, teamwork, collaborative working environment, shared display
JEL Classification: C92, L63
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation