E-leadership effectiveness in virtual teams: motivating language perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai-Tang Fan ◽  
Yuan-Ho Chen ◽  
Ching-Wen Wang ◽  
Minder Chen
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Group Decision Support System ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Motivating Language

Purpose – Virtual teams are becoming a norm in current knowledge-based society and offer a wide range of organizational benefits. This paper aims to investigate the effects of leaders’ motivating language (ML) and feedback approach on virtual team members’ creativity performance. Design/methodology/approach – A 2×2 with pre-test and post-test experimental design was employed to explore how to stimulate virtual team members’ creativity performance using a group decision support system. Findings – The results show that leaders’ ML and feedback approach via e-mail instructions have different interaction effects on members’ creativity and idea generation performance. Team members receiving direction-giving instructions generate more ideas under the demanding feedback approach and team member receiving instructions with more empathetic language exhibit higher creativity performance under the encouraging feedback approach. Research limitations/implications – Shortcomings of virtual environment and leadership remain the major factors influencing such findings. Since the results are also restrained by the functionality of the utilized software tool, tools for virtual teams are recommended to include features that can support the effective use of team leaders’ motivational language. Social implications – Virtual team leaders should provide proper guidance to members using understanding and empathetic wording approach. For task-oriented work, leaders should consider giving more specific instructions and provide constant feedback for completed work. For creative work, leaders should give positive encouragement as feedback or even challenge team members to stimulate their creativity. Additionally, facilitation rules can be set up in advance so that the intelligent agent can timely send out follow-up instructions/feedback. Originality/value – The gained insights beneficially help tool developers for virtual teams build/enhance their tools based on the need of team leaders. This paper also usefully offers important implications regarding how to motivate virtual team members’ creative thinking.

The Impact of External Factors on Virtual Teams

Virtual Teams ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 70-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Hornett
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Dynamic Forces ◽  
The Impact

Practitioners and researchers need to pay attention to how corporate organizing structures are impacting and are impacted by virtual work environments. Virtual teams are powerful organizing mechanisms, but they are not without limitations. This chapter reports on two cases in which dynamics outside the virtual project teams powerfully affected the teams. These cases, both based on studies of real project teams operating inside corporations, highlight the desirability of understanding virtual teams in context. While external factors are not unique to teamwork, their role has not been explored in depth in research on virtual teams. Dynamic forces outside teams seem more difficult to anticipate and to identify when team members are working virtually, and these powerful but invisible dynamics can be frustrating to virtual team leaders and members. Concluded in this chapter is that contrary to initial expectations, virtual teams are not replacing traditional forms of organizing. They are coexisting with traditional forms and dynamics, such as business drivers, hierarchies, departments, strategic priorities, and business needs. This coexistence can be fraught with conflict.

Virtual team experiences in an emerging economy: a qualitative study

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 778-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shubhi Gupta ◽  
Govind Swaroop Pathak
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members

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.

Managing Virtual Teams: Strategies for Team Leaders

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Lyons ◽  
Heather A. Priest ◽  
Jessica L. Wildman ◽  
Eduardo Salas ◽  
David Carnegie
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Leadership ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Support Tools ◽  
Virtual Team Leadership ◽  
Collaborative Support ◽  
And Training

Organizations' increasing use of virtual teams has emphasized the importance of effective virtual team leadership. Yet the distribution of team members complicates typical leader functions, such as supervision and support, which the leader must now perform through technology. In this article, we present 10 strategies for managing virtual teams, focusing on the role of technology and training. Our hope is that these strategies will inform designers and guide them in developing collaborative support tools and procedures for these tools and in designing training for the use of these tools.

The Effect of Cultural Dimensions on the Development of Intra-Team Trust in Global Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 64-81
Author(s):  
Kurt D. Kirstein
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Power Distance ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Uncertainty Avoidance ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Global Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Widespread Adoption ◽  
Team Trust

The widespread adoption of global virtual teams has been driven by an unprecedented need to draw upon talents of employees from around the globe in a manner that is both organizationally and financially feasible. The success of these teams depends largely on the levels of intra-team trust and collaboration they are able to establish throughout the life of their projects. Team members on global virtual teams may differ substantially on a number of cultural dimensions including preferences for individualistic versus collective teamwork, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and contextual communication. This chapter will investigate how these four cultural dimensions are likely to impact intra-team trust within a global virtual team. Suggestions that team leaders can utilize to address these cultural dimensions are also presented.

Fostering Creativity in Global Virtual Teams

2008 ◽  
pp. 1277-1291
Author(s):  
Margaret Oertig ◽  
Thomas Buergi
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Team Formation ◽  
Risk Averse ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Global Team ◽  
Fostering Creativity

This chapter presents insights from conversations with global team leaders on how to foster creativity in global virtual project teams in the field of product development. It shows how the leaders pay attention to team formation and managing the group dynamics in order to create a climate in which creativity will flourish. They then harness creativity by balancing the roles of motivating their team members in order to encourage fresh thinking and “putting on the brakes” where necessary in order to create something both new and viable. In particular, risk-averse team members are encouraged to be matter-of-fact about risk, making risk evaluation an intrinsic part of idea generation.

Fostering Creativity in Global Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 123-137
Author(s):  
Margaret Oertig
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Team Formation ◽  
Risk Averse ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Global Team ◽  
Fostering Creativity

This chapter presents insights from conversations with global team leaders on how to foster creativity in global virtual project teams in the field of product development. It shows how the leaders pay attention to team formation and managing the group dynamics in order to create a climate in which creativity will flourish. They then harness creativity by balancing the roles of motivating their team members in order to encourage fresh thinking and “putting on the brakes” where necessary in order to create something both new and viable. In particular, risk-averse team members are encouraged to be matter-of-fact about risk, making risk evaluation an intrinsic part of idea generation.

Mediating Complexity

Virtual Teams ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 255-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Pauleen ◽  
Lalita Rajasingham
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Organizational Boundaries ◽  
Interpersonal Dynamics ◽  
Team Members

Virtual teams are playing an increasingly important role in organizations. However, virtual teams’ increasing team member interaction beyond traditional organizational boundaries has outpaced our understanding of their interpersonal dynamics and unique communication characteristics. Research shows that the development of interpersonal and group communications between team members is an important factor in effective working relationships; however, little research has been done on the effects of crossing organizational, cultural, and time and distance boundaries on relationship building in virtual teams. This chapter reports on a field study of New Zealand-based virtual team leaders working with boundary spanning virtual teams. From a team leaders’ perspective, boundary-crossing issues (organizational, cultural, language, time and distance) can affect relationship building in many important ways. These effects are explored and the implications for practice and research are also discussed.

The impact of emergent virtual leadership competencies on team effectiveness

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Ziek ◽  
Stacy Smulowitz
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Team Effectiveness ◽  
Team Leadership ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Leadership Competencies ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Virtual Team Leadership ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The research on virtual team leadership does well to describe the skills that are needed to guide and direct effective teams. However, what is presupposed in the previous research is that virtual teams have assigned leaders. That is, leaders were either management, appointed by management or were chosen by the team itself. Yet in today's global economy not all virtual teams have assigned leaders, instead many virtual team leaders emerge on their own to direct the group's actions. The purpose of this paper is to examine which emergent leadership competencies most impact virtual team effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach – This is a mixed method study where both a participant survey and content analysis of actual participant messages are used to determine the competencies of emergent virtual team leaders. The research participants for the current study were required to work in assigned teams on organizational case analyses. At the end of each case, teams presented their solutions in the form of final recommendations designed to fix the problem present in the case. Findings – Results indicate that not only do leaders emerge in virtual teams, but in most cases multiple leaders emerge. Results also show that the model that best describes team effectiveness includes the competencies of asking questions, cognitive and creative ability and vision setting. Originality/value – The contribution of the current study is that it extends the research on emergent virtual team leadership by introducing the idea that this type of leadership is often a collective action among individuals. It also advances a model of emergent virtual team leadership as a practice of communication. The better emergent virtual team leaders are at communicating to team members the more effective the team will be in completing tasks and projects, which in turn can lead to a more effectively functioning business unit.

Leader-Facilitated Relationship Building in Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 2390-2395
Author(s):  
David J. Pauleen
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Leadership ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Virtual Team Leadership ◽  
Product Launches

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 multinational 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). Virtual team leadership remains one of the least understood and most poorly supported elements in virtual teams. Virtual team leaders are often the nexus of a virtual team, facilitating communications, establishing team processes, and taking responsibility for task completion (Duarte & Tennant- Snyder, 1999), and doing so across multiple boundaries. Recent research (Kayworth & Leidner, 2001-2002) has begun to look at virtual leadership issues and suggests that the trend toward virtual work groups necessitates further inquiry into the role and nature of virtual team leadership. This article begins by briefly looking at the key concepts of virtual team leadership, relationship building and boundary crossing. Then, drawing upon the author’s research, it examines the complexity inherent in building relationship across boundaries, and concludes with suggestions on how virtual team leaders can mediate this complexity.

How virtual team leaders cope with creativity challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soo Jeoung Han ◽  
Chungil Chae ◽  
Patricia Macko ◽  
Woongbae Park ◽  
Michael Beyerlein
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Open Communication ◽  
Team Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Performance

Purpose As technology-mediated communication improves, many organizations increasingly use new types of collaborative online tools to promote team-based learning and performance. The purpose of this study is to explore how virtual team leaders cope with process challenges in developing a context for team creativity. Design/methodology/approach The authors interviewed nine leaders who have worked for more than five years and managed virtual teams in different fields. Findings This research uncovered distrust, personality differences, generational differences in views, scheduling issues and technology difficulties as the top five inhibitors for virtual team creativity and success. The authors identified seven main strategies for developing virtual team creativity and success. The authors found that building “team norms” and guidelines to encourage positive interactions between team members can facilitate team creativity. In addition, a concept of trust-based open communication was identified as one of the important strategies when teams actively use technology-mediated communication tools. Practical implications Organizational practitioners can use the results of this study when developing knowledge to establish assessments regarding which employees possess the appropriate characteristics to lead virtual teams and implement virtual team training. Originality/value This study emphasizes the importance of technology in professional lives by showing how technology-mediated work leads to success in learning and producing creative ideas and performance in a virtual team environment.

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