Management of Virtual Project Teams: Guidelines for Team Leaders

Although the prevalence of project teams in international organizations is growing rapidly, while influencing the governance of organizations at the global, regional, and local levels, the response of organizations to such changes has been slower, according to authors A. I. Mockaitis, L. Zander, and H. De Cieri (2018). Organizations need to look at virtual project team development opportunities, methods, tools to learn to work in a multicultural space. The uptake of improvement opportunities for organizations would have a positive impact on many aspects like competition, efficiency, and reputation. In this context, it is important to analyse and research the uniqueness of virtual project teams and the problems arising in the management of these teams, because in the international business environment, the operation of these teams is a necessary condition for business to operate effectively. The article analyses the emerging problems in virtual project team management in international companies. A theoretical overview of possible problems in managing virtual project teams is presented, the results of the performed qualitative research are presented. During the research, managers working in international companies who lead a virtual project team were interviewed using the qualitative research method. The study was conducted in 2019-2020 and involved 9 informants working in Lithuania, the United Kingdom, the United States, Bangladesh, France, Malaysia, and Poland. The results of the study revealed the opinion of virtual project team leaders how these teams differ from traditional teams. The results revealed problems that may arise in the management of virtual project teams, such as misunderstanding and ambiguity of transmitted information, lack of emotion, presence and loss of information, higher time costs for work tasks, different, culturally influenced work principles and etiquette, and loss of personal and work balance boundaries. These problems are addressed in several ways, openly throughout the group, individually or through an external team.

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Exploring the Concept of Para Social Presence in Virtual Project Teams

10.1109/hicss.2008.162 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Eric T.K. Lim ◽

Yu-Ting Caisy Hung

Keyword(s):

Social Presence ◽

Project Teams ◽

Virtual Project ◽

Virtual Project Teams

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Effective leadership of virtual project teams

Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE Engineering Management Society. EMS - 2000 (Cat. No.00CH37139) ◽

10.1109/ems.2000.872467 ◽

2002 ◽

Author(s):

J.A. Thompsen

Keyword(s):

Effective Leadership ◽

Project Teams ◽

Virtual Project ◽

Virtual Project Teams

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Effect of Social Media on Trust in Virtual Project Teams of Construction Sector in Middle East

Social Media: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Lecture Notes in Computer Science ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-45234-0_38 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 419-429

Author(s):

Sukhwant Kaur ◽

Mohammed Arif ◽

Vishwesh Akre

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Middle East ◽

Project Teams ◽

Construction Sector ◽

Virtual Project ◽

Virtual Project Teams

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Systems Development by Virtual Project Teams

Cases on Information Technology Series - Annals of Cases on Information Technology ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-061-5.ch029 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 447-463 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David Croasdell ◽

Andrea Fox ◽

Suprateek Sarker

Keyword(s):

Virtual Teams ◽

Virtual Work ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

Global Market ◽

Project Teams ◽

Comparative Case Study ◽

Business Organizations ◽

Team Members ◽

Virtual Project ◽

Virtual Project Teams

Business organizations and global partners are increasing their utilization of virtual project teams to enhance competitive advantages in the global market. More than ever, organizations are using virtual teamwork to bridge time zones and geographic distances. The use of virtual work environments has spurred interest in understanding how team members interact and collaborate over the life of a project. Not surprisingly, organizations are trying to understand what factors are determinants of success with respect to virtual teams. Increasing network bandwidth, continuously improving communication technologies, shifting global economies, and changes in social practices have caused business managers to reconsider traditional practices. This paper provides a comparative case study of four cross-cultural virtual project teams as they analyze, design, and develop information systems.

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Investigating the Intention to Use Social Media Tools Within Virtual Project Teams

Project Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-0196-1.ch033 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 658-680

Author(s):

Jerry Giltenane

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Project Teams ◽

Media Technology ◽

Enterprise Social Media ◽

Intention To Adopt ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

Technology Adoption Model ◽

Social Media Tools ◽

Virtual Project ◽

Virtual Project Teams

Enterprise social media tools are becoming more prevalent in project management, particularly where project teams have to operate on a global and virtual basis. It is becoming more critical that organisations understand the key attributes of such technology to encourage their teams to use them in order to achieve the perceived benefits. In this chapter we search for answers to the factors that influence the adoption of such tools in a virtual project setting by testing the applicability of the much cited technology adoption model known as the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The model is modified to suit the sphere of virtual teams and focuses on the behavioural intention to adopt social media technology. The purpose of examining such a model is to see if it can explain some of the key factors that may influence the adoption of social media within virtual project teams.

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