Asynchronous Collaboration: Achieving Shared Understanding Beyond The First 100 Meters

Motivated by a real-world example from the domain of software product development, we discuss some of the key factors that impact shared understanding among collaborating teams in general, along with specific implications of those factors for asynchronous collaboration in particular. Shared understanding is viewed through the lens of Kirton’s Adaption-Innovation theory, a powerful framework for understanding problem solving that provides insights on the creative behavior of individuals and the convergence and divergence of collaborating teams. Proposed research directions are suggested for the future, and implications of this work for engineering education are discussed as well.