If you think sophisticated communication technologies are the ticket to your virtual team’s success, think again. It’s not the tech that matters — it’s how people use it. New research reveals five strategies for conquering distance and improving communication and performance in dispersed teams. The same strategies can help colocated teams, which depend increasingly on virtual collaboration tools to get work done.

Technology companies, such as Facebook, often fail to make crisis management a central feature of their operations, thanks to five blind spots to which they are especially susceptible. Recognizing these shortcomings is the first imperative; the next is developing a well-designed crisis-management program that includes several key features. All tech companies should take heed, because failing to reflect — and then act — can worsen the consequences of crises that come down the pike.

Customer relationships can evolve through four stages — they can be transactional, transitional, communal, or damaged. Understanding each of these stages, using them to classify customer relationships, and tailoring CRM efforts accordingly can enable your company to better deploy its limited CRM dollars. Not all outreach efforts work equally well in all stages of a relationship. And without this kind of tailoring, you’re likely wasting some of your CRM budget.

As companies rely more and more on AI-driven chatbots to communicate with customers, they need to consider ways to make computers’ communication and understanding better and more natural.

Humanyze tracks technology and facility use (anonymously) to help partner organizations motivate their workforces and increase efficiencies.

A powerful idea can be stood on its head — and deeply misunderstood — when it passes through the filter of viral sharing on Twitter.

Meeting the recommendations for disclosure put forth by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures might seem like a tough job. But if the oil & gas industry is any example, it’s not as difficult as some might imagine — and there are excellent reasons for corporate boards to consider it.

Echo chambers — that is, exposure to information that closely mimics our own experiences and points of view — are burgeoning. In the online world, personalization algorithms lead to even more personalization over time. New research that looked at the way people navigate through videos of TED Talks highlights which types of people are most at risk for falling into extreme echo chambers. The research also suggests ways organizations can help content viewers navigate the noise.

New research finds that stories about consumers’ positive experiences with a brand significantly increase users’ engagement with brand websites, and stories originating from consumers are especially powerful in shaping brand attitudes in social media. Indeed, companies that aren’t offering experiences that leverage consumer input in brand-related narratives are missing out on important opportunities to connect in a meaningful way with potential buyers.

Many big projects start off well, but then lose momentum and spiral downward as skeptical stakeholders withdraw support. Executives need to identify common triggers that spark stakeholder concerns — and take action to avert the ‘cycle of doubt’ that can ensue.

We are entering a transformative period in our relationship with both our personal and professional technology, one in which our reliance on text to both command and consume will be increasingly supplemented — and in many cases supplanted — by our reliance on the spoken word.

What’s happening this week at the intersection of management and technology: Redefining the tech industry; how to make more inclusive decisions fast; four tips for looking good on video calls.

Employee odometers and technostress; big data trumps analytics; profiling the chief data officer.

People have a natural tendency to gravitate to people similar to themselves. This habit offers social benefits but also reinforces biases and degrades decision making. Enterprise social networking platforms may help counteract these typical social tendencies, allowing people to develop and maintain networks more beneficial to an organization’s purpose and to their own performance.

Social media has offered a new means of intra-enterprise communication that has surprising benefits for creativity and innovation. But there are drawbacks as well, mostly relating to issues of transparency and permanence in a digital environment. In part 3 of his 5-part series, Gerald C. Kane offers a perspective on balancing the pros and cons of enterprise social media.