MANAGING COMPUTER CONFERENCING
A Report from the ENA Fall Conference
by Roger Bunting

The focus of the Managing CC session was understanding the issues of design, structure, and behaviors which can contribute to success of computer conferences (CC). We also looked at the problems to be solved and the dilemmas usually confronted in the management and conduct of CC.

The session design was based on the experiential learning model. The attendees were first asked to work in small groups on one of six different scenarios dealing with the establishment of different applications for CC. In each case, the questions addressed by the groups were:

1. What do you see as the "social glue" that will hold
this conference together?


2. What are the desirable characteristics of a CC
system that will help this particular CC accomplish
its purpose?


3. What are the interpersonal and group dynamics that
are most likely to impact the success of this CC?


4. What norms need to be established in order to make
this conference work well?


5. If you agreed to be the "leader" of this CC, what
else would you need to know before accepting the
responsibility?


Following the small group work, each group presented the results of its deliberations, essentially in the form of its answers to the preceding questions. Those results and the ensuing discussions constitute a rich description of the factors and considerations which can contribute to the success of CC. They are synthesized here in the hope that they can assist CC designers and organizers in enhancing the quality and productivity of their CC.

THE "SOCIAL GLUE"
=================

Regarding the "social glue" which can hold conferences together, it appears the following factors can be significant:

Excitement; a willingness to share; a need to complete the project; shared professional or otherwise common interests, purposes, or goals; a need to keep in touch with what's going on; to speed up the learning process; a "draw" to get started, like an initial question that appeals to all; a crisis situation; periodic face-to-face meetings; a desire to demonstrate the gains of CC at both the individual and group levels; a shared commitment to participate; a "walk-around manager" who performs the role of matchmaker, facilitator, and leader.

Especially for global or intercultural CC: exposure to alternate cultures; participation in economic development efforts, and in the creation of a multinational corps.

DESIRABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF CC SYSTEMS
=======================================

The following "desirable characteristics" of CC were highlighted for their potential contribution to the success of CC:

Ease of access and use; "idiot-proof" logon; a communications protocol that is competent at introducing the CC system to the users *and* users to users, and which provides near-instant feedback; at least some users that are already using and familiar with the system; an outreach system for nurturing new users; low cost for communications linkages and connect charges; flexibility; a balance of concentration and dispersion (in the structure of the CC program); sub-conferences available; the presence of a real-time chronicler or digester to provide periodic progress summaries; convenient and fast, especially for getting answers and results; a simple search and retrieval system; voting capabilities; individual messaging; integrated with existing technology.

Especially for global or intercultural CC: multilingual translation services; politically acceptable systems.

INTERPERSONAL AND GROUP DYNAMICS
================================

The following interpersonal and group dynamics were considered to be most likely to impact the success of a CC:

Existing relationships (horizontal, vertical, and cross- functional); use of other modes of communications, e.g., telephone and face-to-face; the need to see progress and the desire for quick results or action; elitism; classism; distrust; verbal, active people vs. shy users; people who are used to working face-to-face, real-time, and with paper; turf issues; one agency or element trying to lead the show; cooperation; handling of feelings, especially anger; the actions of the moderators; transactional velocity; group norms for the free flow of information; relevance to the network; norms for conflict resolution, both rules and processes; complimentary channels with other mediums and processes, like face-to-face, workshops, and face-to-face combined with online activities.

Especially for global or intercultural CC: the need for a facilitator skilled in cross-cultural communications.

NORMS FOR CC
============

The following norms need to be established for a CC to work well:

Everybody has something important to contribute; we all have something to learn; we must pay attention to sharing; mutual respect; rules should be established by the group; it's OK to have diversity... we don't have to agree; acknowledge that the net may "fail"; constructively divert, rather than suppress, dysfunctional discussion; use etiquette when expressing anger via the language; the value of dealing with issues eclipses turf wars temporarily; normally should use public rather than private messages; message lengths should be kept short; discussion content should remain appropriate to the purpose of the conference; norms for participation need to be explicit and achieve balance; input should be required regularly; there should reentry strategies for the infrequent user; leadership should be shared or rotated; provisions should be made for closure.

INFORMATION NEEDS OF CC LEADERS
===============================

Before accepting responsibility for leadership of a net, one should want to know:

Clear goals and what reaching them would look like; legal obligations; time commitments; who the lead or sponsoring agency is; senior management support; knowledge of the decision makers and the accepted decision-making processes; relationships; personalities involved; how to recognize danger signs and to sustain interest; hardware and funds availability; a thorough understanding of the issues and the environment; availability of the right people for the net; the commitment of others to facilitate and to agree to ground rules; the structure for leadership transition; own commitments and constraints; ways to publicize the successes that occur.

Especially in global or intercultural CC: cross-cultural experience; languages; availability of support team and home base.

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Author's Note: Roger Bunting co-facilitated the "Managing Computer
Conferences" session with Joseph Potts at ENA's conference in D.C. in
November. Roger and Joe are both leaders in the field of group
facilitation who are now applying their knowledge to facilitating
interaction online.