Do you Skype? Real-Time vs. A-synchronous Collaboration

Collaboration. How do we do it? How should we do it?

Illustration by John Ueland for TIME

• Email?
• In-person meeting?
• Web conference?
• Teleconference?
• Wiki?
• Spreadsheet?
• Survey?
• Google doc?

The answer depends on the need to collaborate, right? It should be a no-brainer that the right mode of collaboration should be determined by what needs to be accomplished, the timeframe, the parties involved and even the type of documentation and tracking required. And the more moving pieces, the more important it is that the right process and communication method is selected.

However, what about user adoption? How about what’s really effective to move the ball forward? Specifically, how do we weigh the relative values of real-time vs. a-synchronous collaboration?

TIME Magazine writer Joel Stein wrote a fun opinion piece on the topic titled “Call Me! But not on Skepe or Any Other Videophone.” He gives his first-hand experience with “real-time” collaboration and gets some experts to weigh in on user  adoption.

His conclusion was in line with the comment from Sherry Turkle, an MIT professor of the social studies of science and technology, who vouched:

“…it turns out that time shifting is our most valued product. This new technology is about control. Emotional control and time control.”

So, read Joel’s article and feel free to share your perspective here. Real-time? Or on your own time?