Leading Virtual Teams

2016 ◽  
pp. 196-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Cochece Davis ◽  
Nancy M. Scaffidi-Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Geographic Distance ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Effective Relationships

Virtual teams are increasingly common as marketplaces become more global. They offer advantages to employers, including increased time and travel savings, decreased real estate costs, and larger applicant pools. Yet, conflict is inherent in virtual teams, and leaders within virtual teams must confront debilitating conflicts due to technological issues, cultural miscommunication, and restructuring their communication. Though some elements are similar to handling conflict in any team situation, five group factors are especially subject to conflict and manifest differently in effective virtual teams: strategically selecting team members, building effective relationships, fostering trust, facilitating communication, and achieving team goals. Managing any team presents leaders with challenges regarding building relationships, facilitating communication, overcoming barriers and achieving team goals. However, adding geographic distance, cultural differences, and a lack of continuous face-to-face interaction exacerbates these challenges.

scholarly journals The power of individual cultural values in global virtual teams

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audra I. Mockaitis ◽  
Elizabeth L. Rose ◽  
Peter Zettinig
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Global Teams ◽  
Global Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Processes ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Relationship

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.

Leapfrogging an IT Sector

2005 ◽  
pp. 1799-1802
Author(s):  
Eileen M. Trauth
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Strategic Alliances ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Global Coverage ◽  
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 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).

Removing Space and Time

2011 ◽  
pp. 14-23
Author(s):  
Christie L. McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Communication Barriers ◽  
Team Cohesion ◽  
Team Dynamics ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Managerial Styles ◽  
Geographic Boundaries ◽  
The World

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.

Training Techniques for Developing Trust in Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 1659-1666
Author(s):  
Peggy M. Beranek ◽  
Ben Martz ◽  
Monique French
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Comparison Of The Results

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.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

2005 ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
Robert Jones ◽  
Rob Oyung ◽  
Lisa Shade Pace
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Golf Course ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Upper Management ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Water Cooler ◽  
Face Time ◽  
The Universe

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.

Removing Space and Time

2011 ◽  
pp. 2275-2285
Author(s):  
Christie L. McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Communication Barriers ◽  
Team Cohesion ◽  
Team Dynamics ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Managerial Styles ◽  
Geographic Boundaries ◽  
The World

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.

Temporary Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 1438-1460
Author(s):  
Stacey L. Connaughton ◽  
Elizabeth A. Williams ◽  
Jennifer S. Linvill ◽  
Elizabeth J. O’Connor ◽  
Troy Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Intelligence ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Team Development ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Team Experience

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.

Temporary Virtual Teams

2010 ◽  
pp. 123-145
Author(s):  
Stacey L. Connaughton ◽  
Elizabeth A. Williams ◽  
Jennifer S. Linvill ◽  
Elizabeth J. O’Connor ◽  
Troy Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Intelligence ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Team Development ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Team Experience

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.

Managing Relationships in Virtual Team Socialization

2010 ◽  
pp. 1632-1642
Author(s):  
Shawn D. Long ◽  
Gaelle Picherit-Duthler ◽  
Kirk W. Duthler
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Electronic Mail ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
New Members ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Organizational Work

The traditional organizational workplace is dramatically changing. An increasing number of organizations are employing workers who are physically and geographically dispersed and electronically dependent on each other to accomplish work (Gibson & Cohen, 2003; Griffith, Sawyer, & Neale, 2003). Recent technological advances, combined with more flexible job design, have helped increase the number of people working in distributed environments. Hence, more employees are working individually and on teams that seldom, if ever, meet face to face. These virtual employees have the same work responsibilities as traditional employees in addition to the challenge of operating within the dynamics of these newly designed mediated workplaces. Rapid developments in communication technology and the increasing influence of globalization and efficiency on organizations have significantly accelerated the growth and importance of virtual teams in contemporary workplaces. Virtual teams are becoming more commonplace because of the possibilities of a more efficient, less expensive, and more productive workplace. Additionally, distributed teams are less difficult to organize temporal organizational members than traditional co-located teams (Larsen & McInerney, 2002; Lurey & Raisinghani, 2001; Piccoli & Ives, 2003). Although there are apparent advantages of organizing work virtually, the challenge for new member integration lies in the fact that team members must communicate primarily through communication technology such as electronic mail, telephone, and videoconferencing or computer conferencing. This increased dependence on technology as a medium of communication significantly alters the way new members are socialized to work teams. Additionally, team members’ ability to use complex communication technologies varies across individuals. This variation potentially may lead to inter- and intra-group conflict, as well as creating organizational work ambiguity, which refers to the existence of conflicting and multiple interpretations of a work issue (Miller, 2006). This article addresses the challenges of virtual team socialization with regard to newcomer assimilation and how newcomer encounter is an embedded process of virtual team assimilation.

Managing Communication within Virtual Intercultural Teams

2002 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Uber Grosse
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Open Communication ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Global Companies ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Good Relation ◽  
Distance Work

As global companies increasingly rely on virtual teams to conduct short- and long- term projects, business students need to be prepared to manage the communication of intercultural teams. Communicating across cultures using technology can be a difficult task. It requires understanding the advantages and limitations of technol ogy and how to build relationships via technology. Virtual team members need to choose an appropriate communication channel for their purposes and be sure to balance distance work with face-to-face communication. Team leaders should encourage open communication and brainstorming, and avoid assignment of blame. Other strategies for success include: 1) develop a network of good relation ships built on trust and understanding, 2) show respect for other cultures and lan guages, and 3) understand how diversity strengthens the team.

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