Communicating for Creative Success in Remote Collaborative Work
Abstract
This thesis investigated how technological communication tools contribute to creative
success within the speci c domain of animation production. Research indicates
that communication is one of the most important factors in producing successful
collaborative work; speci cally, constant and open communication channels are the
most conducive to creative collaboration. Communication habits in remote creative
collaborative work have been little studied, but drawing upon established knowledge
in co-located collaboration I hypothesized that teams with the highest volume of
communication would produce the most successful creative output. In a three-year
study of distributed student production teams, I compare quantitative communication
modality and volume data with qualitative end-product success scores. My
ndings indicate that more communication is not necessarily a positive factor. Further,
an increased variety of communication modalities did not correlate with creative
success. The results do indicate a preference among communication modalities for
di erent types of communication: namely, asynchronous modalities are preferred for
logistical communication and synchronous modalities are preferred for aesthetic communication.
Collaboration using computer-mediated communication tools requires
further study to determine best practices for creative work.
Subject
visualizationanimation
communication
remote collaboration
computer-mediated communication modalities
Citation
Keske, Stephanie Lee (2014). Communicating for Creative Success in Remote Collaborative Work. Master's thesis, Texas A & M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /152517.