Team communication in complex projects

Abstract Engineering managers, faced with ever greater system integration challenges, must actively improve team communications. As a conceptual tool, the work activity of a system development team may be described in terms of a group of coupled conversations. Based on this approach, a model is outlined which offers a graphic representation of team resources and a metaphor for interactive communication activity. Use of the model encourages complete consideration of the requirements for a given conversation and helps to explicitly document successful interaction patterns. Models with these features are expected to lead to broader use of computer workstations for managing system development. Until then, the concepts are valuable to managers to help to organize and clarify their teamwork.