Tools for Teaching Virtual Teams: A Comparative Resource Review

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Larson ◽  
Opal Leung ◽  
Kenneth Mullane
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Synchronous Communication ◽  
Work Skills ◽  
Professional Programs ◽  
Team Projects ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Team Project

As the ubiquity of virtual work—and particularly virtual project teams—increases in the professional environment, management and other professional programs are increasingly teaching students skills related to virtual work. One of the most common forms of teaching virtual work skills is a virtual team project, in which students collaborate with each other at a distance (and sometimes between multiple institutions) to accomplish a shared task. These projects differ from most management topics in their technology requirements. In this comparative review, we describe the features and trade-offs inherent in some of the asynchronous and synchronous communication technology tools commonly used to run virtual team projects.

Virtual Teamwork and Commitments Impact on Project Quality

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 42-58
Author(s):  
Harold Daniel ◽  
Christian Graham ◽  
Brian Doore
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Virtual Teamwork ◽  
Project Quality ◽  
Team Projects ◽  
Project Outcome ◽  
Team Project

This article examines how commitment among individuals involved in a short term, virtual team projects influence the quality of the project outcome. Results indicate that forced and habitual commitment types had a negative impact on virtual team project quality but found no evidence of the hypothesized positive influences of affective, normative or economic commitment. Findings suggest that commitment in virtual teams, particularly those virtual teams that engage in short term projects, may not exert the influence observed in co-located teams involved in longer duration projects. Further, forced and habitual commitment may actually be destructive. As such, the findings of this study suggest that for project quality to be achieved, other forces may be necessary.

scholarly journals USING GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS TO SUPPORT A SUSTAINABILITY MINDSET IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anuli Ndubuisi ◽  
James Slotta
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Intercultural Competency ◽  
Team Projects ◽  
Intercultural Competencies ◽  
Successful Approach ◽  
Team Project

In an increasingly interconnected economy, future engineers require a sustainability mindset, which necessitates a global perspective, to enable them to work together with diverse partners to tackle the world’s problems in a sustainable manner. This study explores engineering students’ development of intercultural competencies within the context of culturally diverse global virtual team projects. We report on two consecutive iterations of an Intercultural Competency Module (ICM) delivered within a global virtual team project setting, in which engineering students are engaged in collaborative technical projects. Each study iteration comprised of a presurveyto gain insights into student’s prior knowledge and cultural background and a post-survey to determine students’ perceptions of their intercultural learning and experiences. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we found that blending ICM with global virtual team projects was a successful approach for helping engineering students acquire international experience and develop intercultural competencies in addition to technical engineering knowledge.

scholarly journals USING GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS TO SUPPORT A SUSTAINABILITY MINDSET IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anuli Ndubuisi ◽  
James Slotta
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Intercultural Competency ◽  
Team Projects ◽  
Intercultural Competencies ◽  
Successful Approach ◽  
Team Project

In an increasingly interconnected economy, future engineers require a sustainability mindset, whichnecessitates a global perspective, to enable them to work together with diverse partners to tackle the world’s problems in a sustainable manner. This study explores engineering students’ development of intercultural competencies within the context of culturally diverse global virtual team projects. We report on two consecutive iterations of an Intercultural Competency Module (ICM) delivered within a global virtual team project setting, in which engineering students are engaged in collaborative technical projects. Each study iteration comprised of a presurvey to gain insights into student’s prior knowledge and cultural background and a post-survey to determinestudents’ perceptions of their intercultural learning and experiences. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we found that blending ICM with global virtual team projects was a successful approach for helping engineering students acquire international experience and developintercultural competencies in addition to technical engineering knowledge.

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.

Cross-Cultural Virtual Team Projects

2021 ◽  
pp. 86-107
Author(s):  
Anuli Ndubuisi ◽  
Elham Marzi ◽  
James Slotta
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Team Projects ◽  
Intercultural Competencies ◽  
Before And After

Future engineers require global and intercultural competencies to prepare them to work in an increasingly multicultural, digitized, and interdependent global economy. To enhance engineering students' international exposure, awareness, and cultural experiences, the authors developed a unique international virtual team program that engaged students in collaborative project-based learning with peers around the world. Each virtual team consisted of multidisciplinary students from various countries and institutions. The students' knowledge and understanding of intercultural competence were evaluated before and after the program to ascertain its impact on their understanding of intercultural sensitivities and collaboration in virtual teams. Recommendations for learning enhancements were proposed. The authors found the integration of intercultural content with the global virtual team projects to be a successful strategy for helping engineering students build intercultural competencies and virtual collaboration skills, in addition to technical engineering knowledge and experience.

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.

Effective Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 1272-1278
Author(s):  
D. Sandy Staples ◽  
Ian K. Wong ◽  
Ann-Frances Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Collocated Teams

Virtual teams are now being used by many organizations to enhance the productivity of their employees and to bring together a diversity of skills and resources (Gignac, 2005; Majchrzak, Malhotra, Stamps, & Lipnack, 2004), and it has been suggested that this will become the normal way of working in teams in the near future (Jones, Oyund, & Pace, 2005). Virtual teams are groups of individuals who work together from different locations (i.e., are geographically dispersed), work at interdependent tasks, share responsibilities for outcomes, and rely on technology for much of their communication (Cohen & Gibson, 2003). While the use of virtual teams is more common in today’s organization, working in these teams is more complex and challenging than working in traditional, collocated teams (Dewar, 2006), and success rates in virtual teams are low (Goodbody, 2005). This article suggests best practices that organizations and virtual team members can follow to help their virtual teams reach their full potential. In this article, virtual team best practices are identified from three perspectives: organizational best practices, team leadership best practices, and team member best practices. Ideas for best practices were identified from three sources: six case studies of actual virtual teams (Staples, Wong, & Cameron, 2004); the existing literature on virtual teams; and the existing literature on traditional (i.e., collocated) teams and telecommuting (i.e., research on virtual work at the individual level).

scholarly journals Antecedents and consequences of trust on a virtual team leader

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Flavian ◽  
Miguel Guinalíu ◽  
Pau Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Organizational Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Structural Equations ◽  
Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Work Team ◽  
Behavioral Characteristics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine, among the possible causes, whether trust in the leader is one of the most relevant factors on the success of a virtual work team by analyzing different antecedents of the trust and its consequences. Design/methodology/approach The influence that certain physical and behavioral characteristics of the leader (attractiveness, empathy and justice) exert on the degree of trust is evaluated. On the other hand, the influence of trust on the efficiency of the team, in terms of organizational citizenship behavior and commitment, is analyzed. To test the model, a survey was conducted on real work teams and the data were analyzed through a model of structural equations. Findings The results support the hypotheses and consequently, the relevance of trust in the leader. Specifically, the leader’s physical and behavioral characteristics have a significant effect on the trust in the leader. This trust results in greater organizational efficiency. Originality/value Despite the undisputable growth in the number of companies using virtual teams, it is also true that many of these teams fail to perform. In this sense, this paper analyzes if certain factors related to leadership can be relevant when influencing the efficiency of a virtual work team. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the internal processes within a virtual team in order to maximize the chances of success in this type of organizations.

Virtual Leadership

2021 ◽  
pp. 1678-1691
Author(s):  
Christian Graham ◽  
Harold Daniel ◽  
Brian Doore
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Team Effectiveness ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Team Project ◽  
Leadership Research

This chapter is an updated review of the results of a study completed in 2015 on leadership's impact on virtual team effectiveness and the quality of the completed virtual team project. Findings in 2015 suggested that leadership style and virtual team effectiveness did predict project quality, and specific leadership styles had a negative relationship with virtual team effectiveness. After summarizing the results of the studies purpose, methodology, and findings, the chapter concludes with a literature review of virtual team's leadership research between 2015 and present. It provides a discussion on the relationship between the previous studies' findings and what has been found since with recommendations on future research on shared leadership and relationship building in virtual teams.

Short-Term International Virtual Teams

2021 ◽  
pp. 205-227
Author(s):  
Debra D. Burleson ◽  
Uchenna Peters
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Workplace Communication ◽  
Global Mindset ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Us ◽  
Spatial Differences ◽  
Team Project

Workplace communication is changing exponentially, and these changes have directly impacted employees. Employees, who learned more traditional face-to-face practices, have had to adapt to a global mindset. In 2014, 3,000 managers surveyed from more than 100 countries reported that 40% of their employees spent at least half of their time on virtual teams, and over 77% of the teams were multicultural. Preparing employees and students for a global workplace that uses digital tools is challenging. The authors developed resources and tools for a 3-week virtual team project with students at universities in the US and Europe. Resources include details about assigning teams, preparing students for the virtual team experience, launching the project, and providing context for the cultural and spatial differences that students may experience.

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