Team Dispersion, Emergent States, and Performance in Virtual IT Service Provisioning Teams

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Service Provisioning ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Team Members ◽  
It Service ◽  
Team Research ◽  
Emergent States ◽  
Process Output ◽  
And Performance

Today, virtual teams composed by dispersed team members relying on computer-supported collaborative work are common in the information technology (IT) service provisioning industry. Despite the increasing interest in virtual team research, there is a limited understanding of a multidimensional view of team dispersion and its effect on the performance of virtual teams via the team´s socioemotional states. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of team distribution and variety of work practices on the performance of virtual IT service provisioning teams via the emergent states of trust and cohesiveness. To this aim, an input-process-output framework was adopted to develop a conceptual model and a survey with IT service provisioning professionals was conducted. The results suggest that a variety of work practices constitutes a barrier to the performance of virtual IT service provisioning teams; and that trust and cohesiveness are important mediators in this cause-effect relationship.

scholarly journals Liegt die Zukunft der Teamforschung in ihrer Vergangenheit? Auf dem Weg zu einem ganzheitlich-dynamischen Teamverständnis

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-321
Author(s):  
Michael W. Busch
Keyword(s):  
Team Performance ◽  
International Research ◽  
Team Size ◽  
Input Process ◽  
Causal Explanations ◽  
Performance Variables ◽  
Team Research ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Emergent States ◽  
Process Output

Abstract The international research on teams, which is inspired by the input-process-output model, is mostly empirical. Researchers in this field look for causal explanations between independent (e.g., team size and team composition) and dependent (e.g., team performance) variables. Recently, some critics have pointed to the deficits in this model. Especially, the temporal, contextual, and dynamic aspects of teams need to be investigated further (multilevel approach). Emergent states, such as team cognitions, team emotions, and team hierarchies, comprise a promising field of study that leads to a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of teams. These emergent states offer an opportunity to reconcile former concepts (Lewin’s gestalt, Koestler’s holarchy, and Cattell’s syntality) with topical team research. Therefore, the future of research on teams may partly lie in its past.

Forming Trust in Virtual Writing Teams

2010 ◽  
pp. 88-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean D. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
General Concept ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Performance Orientation ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Trust Formation ◽  
And Performance

This chapter explores collaborative writing in virtual teams, and, particularly, trust formation in virtual writing teams, to help those who create or work in virtual writing teams to understand the importance of trust. In order to build the case for trust as the key component in teams, the chapter presents important background on teams as a general concept. In particular, it considers the constituents of quality teams, which include small team size, diverse team membership, interdependent relationships, shared team vision, articulated processes, and performance orientation. The chapter then elaborates on the role of trust in teams, presenting it as the key feature for any type of team environment. Based on this background, the chapter then differentiates the general concept of teams from virtual teams in particular, arguing that virtual teams must address specific considerations in order to build trust. Such considerations include the composition of the team, where team members possess a propensity to trust; the proper use of technology in the virtual team, so that the medium matches the communicative need; and social presence, or the ways that virtual teams can build trust by using communication behaviors to demonstrate to others that they share understanding. The chapter combines the general team considerations with the virtual team considerations into a rubric for building strong virtual teams based upon four major categories: team traits, team actions, individual traits, and environment traits. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future study.

IT Project Managers' Perceptions and Use of Virtual Team Technologies

2011 ◽  
pp. 25-43
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Beise ◽  
Fred Niederman ◽  
Herb Mattord
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Fortune 500 ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Team Members ◽  
It Project ◽  
Information And Communication

This chapter presents the results of a case study pertaining to the use of information and communication media to support a range of project management tasks. A variety of electronic communication tools have evolved to support collaborative work and virtual teams. Few of these tools have focused specifically on the needs of project managers. In an effort to learn how practicing IT project managers employ these tools, data were collected at a North American Fortune 500 industrial company via interviews with IT project managers regarding their use and perceptions of electronic media within the context of their work on project teams. In this study, “virtual” describes the extent to which communication is electronic rather than the extent to which team members are geographically separated. Although the number of respondents was limited, the richness of the data collected leads to the conclusion that successful project managers and teams become skilled at adapting a variety of existing communication technologies to match the project task or process, the receiver, their own role as sender, and the content of the message. Groupware designers and developers need to better understand project management methods and best practices in order to provide better tools for practitioners, particularly as organizations expand globally and increasingly outsource various functions of their IT development and operations.

The Impact of Trust on Virtual Team Effectiveness

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasser A. El-Kassrawy
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Team Effectiveness ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Structural Equations ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Competitive Environments ◽  
Team Satisfaction ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

Given the important role of information technology, virtuality has become crucial issue in contemporary organizations. Virtual teams are comprised of members who are located in more than one physical location. They need to be effectively collaborating to harness their full performance capabilities in order to compete in the highly competitive environments. However, virtual team effectiveness is affected by determinants of trust which include three types; personality, cognitive and institutional-based trust. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of trust determinants on virtual team effectiveness represented in virtual team satisfaction and performance. Through a survey of 125 virtual team members who had experienced at least two years in this field, the results indicated that determinants of trust positively influence virtual team satisfaction and virtual team performance. The authors' structural equations modeling findings also support our hypothetical predictions that personality- based trust, cognitive- based trust and institutional- based trust have a dramatic impact on both of virtual team satisfaction and virtual team performance. Moreover, institutional- based trust is the uppermost driver of virtual team effectiveness. This study provides novel insights into virtual team behaviours, managerial and research implications for effective virtual team.

On the Measurement of Participation Equality

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 32-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce A. Reinig ◽  
Roberto J. Mejias
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Gini Coefficient ◽  
Coefficient Of Variation ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Group Support Systems ◽  
Group Support ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Team Members

Participation equality is often a key process construct in research models that examine the effects of group support systems (GSS) technology and e-collaboration. GSS are generally thought to reduce the dispersion of participation among team members and thus make participation more equally distributed. However, research conclusions in the literature regarding participation equality are not always consistent with this finding. Researchers have used a variety of approaches to operationalize participation equality including unit-based measures, such as the standard deviation, and dimensionless measures such as the Gini coefficient and the coefficient of variation. Researchers have also varied in their measurement of participation units with some counting phenomena such as comments, words, or remarks. The authors report on an exploratory study that demonstrates conditions in which research conclusions regarding the participation equality construct are dependent on both the participation unit analyzed and whether a unit-based or dimensionless measure is used to compute participation equality. The authors conclude with recommendations for researchers investigating participation equality and practitioners that seek to measure and track participation equality in their collaborative work practices.

Attack, Damage and Carry: Role Familiarity and Team Performance in League of Legends

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua A. Eaton ◽  
David J. Mendonça ◽  
Matthew-Donald D. Sangster
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Social Constructs ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Gaming Environment ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
League Of Legends

Objective: This research studies the impact of role familiarity on team performance by examining performance of the “Carry” role in the Multi-player Online Battle Arena gaming environment, League of Legends™. Background: Roles are typically defined as stable patterns of expectations, relationships, and behaviors. As social constructs, roles therefore include notions of status, relationships with additional social actors, and of defined sets of behaviors tied to the assigned role. We hypothesize that the importance of role familiarity in teams is mediated by the nature and extent of team members’ experience working together in defined roles. Methods: The data set used for this study is from League of Legends’ Application Program Interface and consists of ranked match play from 2011–2016. Results: ANOVA and visualization techniques are used to explore match-level data in order to address the proposed research questions. The proportion of time the same team member is assigned to the “Carry” role (role familiarity) has a direct and positive impact on team performance. Conclusions: This study shows how objective, detailed data on teamwork may be used to provide insights into questions of the composition and performance of teams. Additionally, the results illustrate the importance of role familiarity in the performance of teams. Application: This research highlights the value and feasibility of studying virtual teams for new insights into team performance.

scholarly journals Developing competencies for collaborative work settings in a virtual simulation laboratory - Training approach and performance measurement

2021 ◽  
pp. 199-214
Author(s):  
Annabelle Beyer ◽  
◽  
Murat Keskin ◽  
Dirk Berndt ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Front End ◽  
Simulation Laboratory ◽  
Moderating Factors ◽  
Simulation Scenario ◽  
And Performance

In our paper we present first performance measurement results of a digital simulation laboratory, which is applied in the context of industrial front-end team training. The design of the simulation laboratory is oriented towards an Escape Room. First, we situate the presented approach within existing competency understandings and accompanying training approaches in the context of Industry 4.0 Performance measurement for front-end training has been a challenge in this context so far, since performance, unlike in the back-end, is not attributable to specific production results, but becomes visible on a superior process level. Building on the competency facets of complexity management, self-reflection, creative problem solving, and cooperation (Wilkens et al., 2017) as well as action implementation (Heyse & Erpenbeck, 2009), the performance measurement presented addresses the question which individual competencies have an impact on team performance in the simulation scenario. Preliminary results show that the individual competencies among team members have a lower impact on performance than moderating factors such as heterogeneity and cohesion within the team. In order to increase the performance of front-end teams, it therefore appears to be reasonable to focus more on developing team structures rather than only on individual competence development.

Learning in Virtual Teams

2018 ◽  
pp. 622-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuqing Ren
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Team Learning ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Shared Knowledge ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Storage And Retrieval ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
Shared Identity ◽  
And Performance

This chapter reviews and integrates the latest research on team learning and virtual teams to understand the challenges associated with how team members learn and improve performance when working across distance. Team learning is defined as changes in a team’s knowledge and performance as a function of members gaining experiences of working with one another. This chapter presents an integrative framework that links challenges in virtual teams (lack of informal, spontaneous communication, lack of social presence, lack of common ground, reduced team cohesion and identification, lack of trust, lack of shared knowledge and understanding) to four key team learning processes (knowledge acquisition, sharing, storage, and retrieval). Three remedies are proposed to overcome the challenges through a strong shared identity, the choice of effective collaboration technologies, and timely teamwork interventions.

Self Organising and Virtual Teams

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Salama ◽  
Maria Mataj
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Sixth Edition ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Talented People ◽  
And Performance

Amid the shift towards digital economies in the context of globalisation, project team members are required to work together remotely, utilising the current highly accessible technology (Han and Beyerlein, 2016). Virtual teams are growing rapidly in today’s world as companies are being involved in a constant fight for existence, due to the very vibrant and continuous competition which makes organizations emerge in different countries. Being a global organisation involves synchronization among people situated in diverse geographical areas, thus there arises the necessity for managing global virtual teams, assigned to resolve issues at a global level (Paul et al., 2016). The existence of a variety of technologies allows companies to have access to a large pool of talented people located all over the world, as it reduces costs and facilitates cooperation among different locations and time zones (Paul et al., 2016). According to Hertel et al. (2005), the allocation of work among employees has become more efficient due to the evolvement of technology. Consequently, for international companies to collaborate with each other and to have high performing virtual teams, there has been a need to consider the impact of cultural diversity on virtual teams’ practices and performance (Han and Beyerlein, 2016). This discussion should also include self-organising teams in the context of agile methodologies and beyond. In addition, studies have been focusing on how emotional intelligence impacts teams and groups (Wolff et al., 2001). However, limited research has been conducted on how culture and emotional intelligence impact virtual team performance in the context of project management. This chapter aims to discuss the critical area of managing project teams with emphasis on the relationship between culture, communication, emotional intelligence and trust in self-organising and virtual teams, and how the interaction between these factors impact team performance. This attempts to answer the call by the sixth edition of the PMI PMBOK that emphasised the importance of developing the soft skills of project managers in the pursuit of enhancing project management practice amid the growing interest in sustainability in general. In addition, this endorses and further justifies the suggested paradigm shift that the authors advocate, in pursuit of sustainable project management.

scholarly journals A Time to Lead: Changes in Relational Team Leadership Processes over Time

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-584
Author(s):  
Tessa Horila ◽  
Marko Siitonen
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Team Leadership ◽  
Subjective Time ◽  
Relational Leadership ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Research ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽  
Over Time

This study analyzes how team members perceive changes in relational leadership processes over time. Interview data from three virtual teams ( N = 18) were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. The findings illustrate how ideals of well-functioning leadership and teamwork communication can differ both between and within teams at different times. Team members may perceive benefits of the passage of time in teamwork, including experienced closeness, adjustment, and clarification of practices, as well as challenges such as rigidity and historical baggage. Organizations and teams may experience a shift in the ideals of leadership, but adapting to and adopting new forms of leadership over time may not be unproblematic. The findings also highlight how relational leadership is neither stable nor linear in its development. Overall, the study contributes to leadership and team research by increasing understanding of the relational construction of leadership among naturally occurring teams and by challenging assumptions about how leadership and time are perceived by team members. The implications of studying subjective time in connection with relational leadership are discussed.

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