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Managing Research Projects

Managing Research Projects

Synchronous Web-based Communication

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'Synchronous' communication is a term often used to describe web-based technologies such as MSN Messenger, Skype etc. where all participants are logged on and participating in the online discussion at the same time.  This style of communication is useful for research teams that are dispersed across the UK, or even internationally, although when setting a meeting time thought would need to be given to team members working in different time zones.

What are the biggest problems with synchronous communication?

Problems that arise in synchronous communication are:

  • multiple threads of discussion are created which become too difficult to follow for some participants, particularly for whom English isn’t their first language
  • those on a slow connection always lag slightly behind in the discussion
  • the discussion tends to lose focus because of many side discussions
  • some participants may be slower typists and therefore find it difficult to make quick comments
  • because of this responses may get out of sequence.

Some participants find that these problems implicitly censor the discussion.

How do I solve these?

The solution is for the person initiating the discussion to have a prepared set of questions, subjects to discuss, etc. and to set up a fixed order for responses.

Spend the first part of the chat session carrying out the following activities:

  • Allow a certain amount of 'open time' for participants to chat with each other. This allows those who may be less familiar with the technology to practice, and provides an opportunity for those who are more familiar with the technology to introduce some of the abbreviations and emoticons used in chat. A certain disorganised time is inevitable at the start of the chat, while everyone logs on.
  • Ask each participant to identify themselves.
  • Explain the procedure for participation, ie that comments or responses have to be done in a strict sequence. If people don’t wish to comment then they have to say ‘pass’, but this queue is important for so that everyone has a chance to ‘speak’. 
  • Explain the structure of the session. 
  • Assign an order for the participants, in which they are to ask questions and respond.
  • For example, you may ask each participant to give an opinion, then ask the members of the group respond in turn. Alternatively, you could give participants the opportunity to ask you questions, with your answers forming the basis of another round of questions.
  • Act as moderator and impose order on the discussion when required. Whereas in a face-to-face meeting you can impose order by raising your voice, in chat you can use upper case to make your point more forcefully.

What if I want the session to be a bit more spontaneous?

If you feel that this limits the spontaneity within chat, then you can return to the open time at points within the chat, but this needs to be alternated with the cycles of set responses.

What if I want the comments to be a bit more considered?

You can circulate participants and ask them to prepare statements or questions before the chat session starts.

How do I make moderating a chat session easier?

To reduce pressure on yourself during the chat session, prepare the running order, structure of the session, explanations, questions, etc beforehand in a Word document, and keep this Word document open at the same time. The prepared text can then be copied and pasted into the chat at the appropriate time. This also enables you to record particular points that arise that you may wish to return to. Simply copy and paste the points from the chat window into the Word window to keep a running set of notes.

How can I make use later of the material discussed in the chat?

Save the transcript of the chat session. If the software does not do this automatically, copy and paste the transcript into your open Word document. This can often be a useful resource for future work, particularly for the next time you run the session.

How do I deal if participants lose their connections?

You may encounter problems if the participants are working from home via dial-up modem, rather than broadband, which may result in loss of connection for brief periods. Waitiing for them to be reconnected and then recapping the discussion can be time-consuming. If you have recorded the chat (see above) the discussion can continue and those who have missed it will be able to fill in the gaps later.

communication systems