ICMT: The Future of ICMT The Future of ICMT: ICMT

What is the future of ICMT? How will ICMT affect today's employees?

A lot can be said about the future of ICMT and connectedness in the organizational setting. What is rather obvious though is that the degree of connectedness in the organization will continue to increase over the coming years. This is particularly the case in the U.S. following the government's announcement of a plan to make high-speed wireless infrastructure available to 98% of Americans regardless of where they live and work by 2021 (White House, 2011). The plan focuses on making more airwaves available so that enhanced smart phone users can access the internet easily for work, play and learning purposes (White House, 2011). If this plan is implemented, the internet will become more accessible and people more connected. In the organizational setting, employees will be better connected not only to their managers and supervisors, but also to other employees.

This high degree of connectedness will affect employees both positively and negatively. On the positive end, employees are likely to become more productive, with higher level of efficiency. This is because the high degree of connectedness allows them to easily seek clarifications from their supervisors, and share...

This would ensure that work keeps going even when the supervisor is not physically present. Moreover, employees would be able to improve their knowledge base and skill sets by linking up virtually with mentors and experienced professionals in their respective fields, and participating in online training programs.
On the other end, however, the high degree of connectedness would reduce the frequency of face-to-face interactions in the organization, and this could affect our social lives, as well as levels of motivation and loyalty. When people interact so much on virtual platforms, they reduce the amount of time spent interacting physically (Gray, 2012). A supervisor will find it more convenient to send an email to their employee than summon them to their office and give instructions in-person. Virtual interactions may not yield as much relational satisfaction and motivation as physical meetings. If such tendencies are left unchecked, employees could begin to lose touch with their managers; and this could negatively affect their loyalty and commitment to the organization. To prevent this, employees should take an initiative to ensure that computer-mediated communication does not entirely replace face-to-face communication in their…