Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) is a collaborative work environment that involves the use of collaborative software and seeks to describe the sociological and psychological impact of sharing work responsibilities electronically. CSCW allows employees to collaborate on work-related tasks via shared computer networks, software, and processes that deliver real-time updates, changes, and information. Researchers are interested in how such cooperative work environments help foster or hinder personal interactions between employees and how they affect productivity and output. CSCW is expected to increase the number of remote-working employees and independent workstations.
Computer-supported cooperative work, also referred to simply as CSCW, is a term used to describe a collaborative work environment. While this involves the use of collaborative software, computer-supported cooperative working actually seeks to describe the sociological and psychological impact of sharing work responsibilities electronically in addition to the human-computer interaction that must occur in such an environment. Employees participating in CSCW can do so in a shared physical location or workers can engage in such activities remotely.
Often referred to as e-work, computer-supported cooperative work allows employees to collaborate on work-related tasks via shared computer networks, software, and processes that deliver real-time updates, changes, and information. Workers are also able to interact with one another through team meetings and can maintain a constant connection with one another as they work, whether they’re in the same location or working at opposite ends of the globe. Technological advances, such as teleconferencing software, real-time chat platforms, and other shared software products known as groupware can perfectly support these efforts.
While many people summarize the concept of a computer-supported cooperative work environment simply using groupware, individuals who study such environments say that the true definition of a CSCW situation involves much more. By looking at teamwork environments that use a collaborative innovation network, researchers are also looking at the sociological and psychological impact these environments have on individual workers. In particular, the researchers are interested in how such cooperative work environments help foster or hinder personal interactions between employees. How employees communicate with each other via tools such as an electronic meeting system or chat software versus how the same employees would interact in person is also of interest to researchers.
In addition to the social and psychological observances of a computer-supported cooperative work environment, researchers and employers are also interested in how such environments tend to affect productivity and output. This is of particular curiosity as workers who engage in CSCW often do so from home and from satellite locations. This has also resulted in an increase in off-site work centers designed specifically for telecommuting and location-independent workers. In many cases productivity improvements have been noted which may be related to CSCW. As the technology used in computer-supported cooperative work situations continues to improve, many expect the number of remote-working employees and independent workstations to do the same.
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