Building collaboration in teams through emotional intelligence: Mediation by SOAR (strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results)

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (02) ◽  
pp. 263-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew L Cole ◽  
John D Cox ◽  
Jacqueline M Stavros

AbstractIn today’s global business environment teams are fast becoming the norm. Collaboration is an essential factor in leveraging team effectiveness, and organizations are looking for strategies to increase collaboration among their teams. In this study, we administered an eSurvey to 308 professionals working in face-to-face and virtual teams to investigate emotional intelligence and strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results as strategies to support the collaborative process. Results found the regression of collaboration on emotional intelligence (controlling for age, ethnicity, and education) was significant (p<.01). Results also found a significant indirect effect between emotional intelligence and collaboration as mediated by strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results (β=0.110,Z=2.444). We focus on understanding the effect of emotional intelligence on team collaboration as mediated by strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results. Recommendations are provided for increasing emotional intelligence and strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results among team members. Our research has important implications for teams and their pervasive use in business.

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audra I. Mockaitis ◽  
Elizabeth L. Rose ◽  
Peter Zettinig

This paper investigates the perceptions of members of 43 culturally diverse global virtual teams, with respect to team processes and outcomes. Despite widespread acknowledgement of the challenges presented by cultural differences in the context of global teams, little is known about the effect of these differences on team dynamics in the absence of face-to-face interaction. Using a student-based sample, we study the relationship between global virtual team members’ individualistic and collectivistic orientations and their evaluations of trust, interdependence, communication and information sharing, and conflict during the team task. Our results suggest that a collectivist orientation is associated with more favorable impressions regarding global virtual team processes and that cultural differences are not concealed by virtual means of communication.


Author(s):  
Christie L. McDaniel

Virtual teams are become more and more popular as the world becomes more connected; furthermore, research is suggesting that virtual teams are as effective as face-to-face teams (Baker, 2002). This chapter compares and contrasts virtual teams with face-to-face teams in order to determine what differences exist as the workplace become virtual. It investigates how relationships between team members change when geographic boundaries are removed and how managers should adjust managerial styles when leading a virtual team. Also, a discussion of team dynamics—including the development of trust, team cohesion, and communication barriers—is included. Tips and techniques for developing an effective team are provided for virtual team managers.


Author(s):  
Peggy M. Beranek ◽  
Ben Martz ◽  
Monique French

Trust among team members is a major factor influencing the cohesiveness of the group, trust also has a direct impact on team performance, problem solving, organizational performance, and organizational communication. Virtual teams are teams in which members are distributed and communicate via computer-mediated communication systems (CMCS). Past research has indicated that the development of trust among team members requires face-to-face communication, thereby making it difficult for virtual teams to develop trust. Recent research has shown that it is possible to train virtual teams to exhibit higher levels of trust. This paper describes and discusses different methods of trust training for virtual teams. We offer a comprehensive comparison of the results and analysis of the training programs of these studies and offer advice on developing and conducting such programs.


Author(s):  
Eileen M. Trauth

How do virtual team leaders assess and respond to boundary crossing issues when building relationships with virtual team members? Virtual teams are a new phenomenon, defined as groups of people working on a common task or project from distributed locations using information and communications technology (ICT). With rapid advances in ICT allowing alternatives to face-to-face communication, virtual teams are playing an increasingly important role in organizations. Due to their global coverage, virtual teams are often assigned critical organizational tasks such as multi-national product launches, negotiating global mergers and acquisitions, and managing strategic alliances (Maznevski & Chudoba, 2000). Their use, however, has outpaced the understanding of their unique dynamics and characteristics (Cramton & Webber, 2000).


2005 ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
Robert Jones ◽  
Rob Oyung ◽  
Lisa Shade Pace

Conventional wisdom often cites that individuals cannot advance their career without putting in daily face-to-face time with their managers; thus, members of virtual teams are inevitably less successful at career development than their co-located colleagues. Virtual team members lose out on the informal interactions that typically occur in the lunchroom, in the hallway, at the water cooler, and on the golf course; therefore, they are essentially out of sight, out of mind. Furthermore, conventional wisdom postulates, it is impossible to get the attention of upper management without these interactions, and people believe that if you want to advance, you will move to the companies selected “center of the universe” where the largest concentration of employees reside. This chapter will discuss the potential drivers behind the following myths that focus on this potential out-of-sight, out-of-mind dynamic, and will document some of the techniques that we’ve observed that help reduce the potential impact of the reduced face-to-face time that is inevitable with the implementation of virtual teams within an organization.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 778-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shubhi Gupta ◽  
Govind Swaroop Pathak

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to document the experiences of team members in order to map the kinds of experiential outcomes that they report while working in virtual teams. The study will help to expand the understanding of various issues related to virtual work arrangements from the perceptions of information technology (IT) professionals in India.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted by adopting an exploratory approach with the use of qualitative methodology. The method of sampling adopted was purposive cum snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews (face-to-face and telephonic) were conducted by taking a sample of 52 respondents, who are employed by IT organisations. The interviews were recorded digitally, transcribed and analysed by using the content-coding approach followed by a thematic analysis.FindingsThe foremost contribution of the study is that it has considered the various motivators and the skills required to be a successful virtual team player. Significant challenges encountered in virtual teams have also been identified.Practical implicationsVirtual teams in the contemporary business environment are evolving with an unparalleled velocity. The findings of the paper have implications for managers, team leaders and change agents regarding how to transform and sustain in the rapidly changing business context of emerging economies.Originality/valueIn the extant literature on virtual teams very little is known about how individual members perceive this new form of teamwork. The findings of the study advance research on the topic of virtual teams by lending empirical support with respect to the interaction effects between IT and human beings. Recommendations have been provided for individual team members and organisations.


2011 ◽  
pp. 2275-2285
Author(s):  
Christie L. McDaniel

Virtual teams are become more and more popular as the world becomes more connected; furthermore, research is suggesting that virtual teams are as effective as face-to-face teams (Baker, 2002). This chapter compares and contrasts virtual teams with face-to-face teams in order to determine what differences exist as the workplace become virtual. It investigates how relationships between team members change when geographic boundaries are removed and how managers should adjust managerial styles when leading a virtual team. Also, a discussion of team dynamics—including the development of trust, team cohesion, and communication barriers—is included. Tips and techniques for developing an effective team are provided for virtual team managers.


2011 ◽  
pp. 1438-1460
Author(s):  
Stacey L. Connaughton ◽  
Elizabeth A. Williams ◽  
Jennifer S. Linvill ◽  
Elizabeth J. O’Connor ◽  
Troy Hayes

Temporary virtual teams are common organizing forms across industries and sectors, and their members often span national, functional, and other boundaries. Many times temporary virtual team members have no prior experience working with one another, may seldom if ever meet face-to-face, and may never work together again, thus team development may occur differently than it does in long-term or in tact teams. Yet little is known about the development of temporary virtual teams and the process challenges therein. The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to this body of research by revealing how individuals who are members of a temporary virtual team experience team development. Specifically, this chapter (a) reviews two often-cited models of team development and discusses the limited body of research on virtual team development; (b) presents findings from a study of one organization’s business intelligence teams that were temporary, virtual, and global in nature; and (c) advances a research agenda for scholars in this area and recommendations to practitioners who are working in these contexts.


Author(s):  
France Bélanger

The paper by Bélanger, Watson-Manheim, and Jordan (2002) addresses the gap between research conducted and practitioner concerns in virtual work. One of the key difficulties in conducting research in this area is the overlap between terms used (McCloskey & Igbaria, 1998; Pinsonneault & Boisvert, 2001). While there are other distributed work arrangements such as hotelling, neighborhood work centers and flextime, most of the previous literature has focused on telecommuting (telework) and virtual teams/ organizations. In this article, the term virtual work represents work environments where individuals spend some time working in a non-face-to-face (FTF) mode, using information and communication technologies to perform work activities. Virtual work environments are increasingly employed by organizations. While there is increased complexity and potential for problems, virtual work strategies allow organizations a great deal of flexibility to compete in a rapidly changing business environment. While existing research provides insights into such environments, it does not clearly deal with major concerns faced by managers (referred to as the “gap” between research and practice). One of the potential reasons for this gap is that practicing managers are concerned with current challenges in their own work setting while academics are concerned with developing more generalizable rules and understanding.


Author(s):  
Stacey L. Connaughton ◽  
Elizabeth A. Williams ◽  
Jennifer S. Linvill ◽  
Elizabeth J. O’Connor ◽  
Troy Hayes

Temporary virtual teams are common organizing forms across industries and sectors, and their members often span national, functional, and other boundaries. Many times temporary virtual team members have no prior experience working with one another, may seldom if ever meet face-to-face, and may never work together again, thus team development may occur differently than it does in long-term or in tact teams. Yet little is known about the development of temporary virtual teams and the process challenges therein. The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to this body of research by revealing how individuals who are members of a temporary virtual team experience team development. Specifically, this chapter (a) reviews two often-cited models of team development and discusses the limited body of research on virtual team development; (b) presents findings from a study of one organization’s business intelligence teams that were temporary, virtual, and global in nature; and (c) advances a research agenda for scholars in this area and recommendations to practitioners who are working in these contexts.


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