Polychronic Communication within the Workplace: The Temporal Structure of Connected Time

• In Event: Communication Technologies In the Workplace

Abstract

This paper articulates a construct–“polychronic communication”–to describe overlapping conversations. Overlapping conversations are increasingly common in the workplace. To advance scholarly understanding of the phenomenon, we define the concept and distinguish it from other forms of multi-tasking and other forms of communication. We identify several factors that encourage (or discourage) incidents of polychronic communication and argue that task demands and supportive technology can yield a new temporal structure–“connected time”–where polychronic communication encouraged.

Authors

• Jeanine W. Turner, Georgetown University

• N L Reinsch, Georgetown University

• Catherine Tinsley, Georgetown University